Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi were back on track today for the second of three days of riding for the second IRTA official Sepang Test, finishing in second and fifth place respectively.

With yesterday’s storm having cleared off, today’s dry and bright weather conditions were perfect for more action at the Sepang International Circuit.

Re-energized after a good night’s sleep, Lorenzo adapted well to the morning’s cooler but still slippery track conditions and was quick to position himself at the front of the leaderboard. He rode consistent lap times in the 2’00, before turning the level up a notch further. Clearly feeling comfortable with the bike, the Spaniard dived under the two-minute mark with a hot lap of 1’59,902s, putting him in second place just 0,058s off the front.

Teammate Rossi was quick to find his pace in the morning. He took over the top spot from his teammate just one hour into the session with a 2’00.393s lap, making it a provisional ‘Yamaha 1-2’. He spent the remaining hours further testing various items, but decided to stop early to save some new tyres for tomorrow. His best time today of 2’00.308s puts him in sixth place, just 0.464s off the front.



Jorge Lorenzo  - 2nd / 1'59.902 / 71 laps 

“Today was much better. I was able to sleep for more than eight hours so I had much more energy than on the first day. For sure this influenced my performance. The bike was also better. I had a better understanding of how to ride it on slippery track conditions, so I was also able to improve my riding. My pace, apart from the last two hours, was almost all day in the 2’00 lap times. That’s similar to the previous test but with worse conditions, so I’m happy.”
 
Valentino Rossi - 6th / 2'00.308 / 61 laps 

“We did a lot of testing today. We tried some forks and especially concentrated on rear grip in acceleration to exit from the corner in the best way. We also continued to work on the gearbox and that still gives a good feeling. We will be ready for tomorrow, because that will be the important day. Tomorrow everybody will be at their maximum for the time attack and they can try to do a long run, so I think tomorrow will be very interesting to understand the pace of all the guys. It will be a good target to be a bit faster than the last test and I think we have to improve the lap times and our pace during the simulation.”

Massimo Meregalli - Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team Director - 

“Today the focus has been on the settings for both Jorge and Valentino. We worked on electronics and mechanics to give them the most comfortable position to be able to deliver consistent lap times. Jorge did a really good day; he had speed and also a good, consistent pace. This morning Vale unfortunately had some problems with a stomach bug but we are confident that he will be on form tomorrow. We have covered most of our testing requirements; tomorrow we have just a few items to check and of course a time attack and a race simulation. Fingers cross for no thunderstorms tomorrow.”