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***Malcolm*** · 29-01-2018, 05:12 PM

On day two of the official test in Sepang, the action started around 11a.m., after riders had waited for the asphalt to dry from an overnight downpour. No further rain disrupted the proceedings until the very last minutes of the session.

Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa were therefore able to take advantage of a full day of work to carry out a number of tests on several areas of their bikes’ setup, including engine, aerodynamics, suspension, and tyres, and they posted the seventh (1’59.730”) and 12th (in 1’59.999”) fastest times, respectively. Marc suffered an uneventful tumble at turn two during his last run, when a light rain started to fall.

The test will conclude tomorrow.

Marc Marquez - 7th 1:59.730 (51 of 68 laps)

“Today I’m very happy because we made some steps forward and I felt really good on my bike, especially in the afternoon, when we put everything in place and I did my fastest lap when the temperature was highest. Besides continuing our work on the engine and setup, we tried a new fairing, and when you do that type of test you have to adjust the bike’s balance a little bit. We’ll need to do more laps to collect more data and get used to riding with it. There are a few things we need to improve more, several areas of the setup that we have to adjust, but so far I’m happy with our pace and think we’re working well. Unfortunately, when we fit a new tyre at the end of the day, it started to rain a bit. I lost the front at turn two even though I wasn’t really pushing, but it wasn’t important.”

Dani Pedrosa - 12th 1:59.999 (51 of 56 laps)

“Today we had a full-day session that allowed us to carry out many tests. We mainly used the new engine specifications, and we worked a lot on a new fairing and other combinations with the aerodynamics. We also worked on the suspension and tyres because with this type of work, you have to make many adjustments to the settings. Some aspects were good right away—the wheelie control was better, and we were able to apply more torque on corner-exit—but we need to improve other aspects and also try everything again at a different track. Anyway, the feeling was generally positive again today; we were quite precise in our work and managed to follow our testing plan well. Tomorrow will be the final day, and we’ll try and work more on the details.”

Mark Marquez - Day 2 at Sepang - Note The Aerodynamic Fairing being tested.

***Malcolm*** · 29-01-2018, 05:44 PM

Marquez and Crutchlow on Honda’s new aero-fairing

Sepang Day 2 saw some innovations break cover

Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa tried Honda’s new aero-fairing on Monday at Sepang, as did HRC test rider and LCR Honda Castrol rider Cal Crutchlow. At Yamaha initial reports were quite positive apropos their innovations, whereas Marquez remained little more reserved – but chiefly because he feels they need to make a few adjustments to setup before drawing a final conclusion.

“Today I’m really happy because we made some steps forward, which is important and I feel really good,” says Marquez of Day 2 as a whole, despite a late crash. Going on to talk about the new fairing, the number 93 was a little moe cautious: “We tried the new fairing but when you try that I think you need to change the bike balance. Still in some areas I feel good and others not so much, but I need to do more laps and get used to that.”

Crutchlow said similar of the fairing in some ways, but found more positives than negatives.

“What Honda has brought here is good, I feel positive with a lot of things,” says the Brit, “and today we tried the new fairing where again there were positives and negatives, but I think more positives, which is very good. We know that the Japanese have been working very hard back at HRC and now we have to look forward to tomorrow.”

Pushed more on the aero, Crutchlow echoed Marquez’ need for some adjustments.

“It created problems in other areas and we had to adjust the settings. We didn’t adjust the settings of the bike to configure it well, but overall I was pleased with how it worked.”

Day 3 sees action at Sepang back underway at 10:00 (GMT +8).

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