Reigning MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo moved ahead of title rival Dani Pedrosa on the second day of testing at Sepang with a lap that also bettered his quickest time from the last day earlier in the month.
Lorenzo went round in 2'00.282, three-tenths faster than the Repsol Honda man's time of 2'00.651 with both setting their times in the morning on a day that was free from rain, unlike yesterday. Lorenzo was half a second quicker than yesterday while Pedrosa was fractionally slower today.
"The track was much better than yesterday, I was surprised in the beginning it was so different. I could be strong from the start; a second and a half quicker and I think I beat my record time here in Malaysia. We improved the setting on the bike and I feel stronger than the first Sepang test so I’m quite satisfied. Tomorrow if the weather is good I would like to try a long run of maybe 24 laps to see what happens with the tyres," said Lorenzo.
Monster Yamaha's Cal Crutchlow found a little 1.2s overnight and leapt into third place on the timesheets with his 2'00.907, pushing Honda wunderkind Marc Marquez down to fourth place but by only 0.085s.
Valentino Rossi, on the second works Yamaha, remained in fifth place but upped his game by a second also. Alvaro Bautista occupied his customary sixth place with Stefan Bradl putting the LCR Honda in seventh.
The Ducati pairing of Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizoso swapped places for eighth and ninth. The pair found some time over their performances yesterday but are further behind after today's laps.
Bradley Smith, who had his first MotoGP crash yesterday, is 1.7s off the pace in tenth but went more than a second faster on the Monster Yamaha. Ben Spies, still carrying a shoulder injury, walked away from a crash.
Once again, Michael Laverty spend much of the day in his garage as the PBM team get to grips with the Magneti Marelli spec-ECU. The Irishman did a three-lap shakedown in the morning followed by 16 laps in the afternoon.
Sepang MotoGP test day two - conditions dry
1 LORENZO, Jorge Yamaha Factory Racing Team 2:00.282 32 / 58 1:10.913
2 PEDROSA, Dani Repsol Honda Team 2:00.651 0.369 0.369 24 / 55 1:09.881
3 CRUTCHLOW, Cal Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2:00.907 0.625 0.256 29 / 59 2:01.048
4 MARQUEZ, Marc Repsol Honda Team 2:00.992 0.710 0.085 9 / 64 1:48.402
5 ROSSI, Valentino Yamaha Factory Racing Team 2:01.065 0.783 0.073 10 / 63 1:13.864
6 BAUTISTA, Alvaro GO&FUN Honda Gresini 2:01.208 0.926 0.143 14 / 58 1:43.909
7 BRADL, Stefan LCR Honda MotoGP 2:01.485 1.203 0.277 15 / 54 1:38.341
8 HAYDEN, Nicky Ducati Team 2:01.778 1.496 0.293 63 / 69 1:10.986
9 DOVIZIOSO, Andrea Ducati Team 2:01.803 1.521 0.025 16 / 49 1:21.340
10 SMITH, Bradley Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2:02.023 1.741 0.220 62 / 63 1:13.712
11 IANNONE, Andrea Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team 2:02.608 2.326 0.585 23 / 47 18:48.786
12 ESPARGARO, Aleix Power Electronics Aspar 2:02.905 2.623 0.297 44 / 45 1:14.588
13 PIRRO, Michele Ducati Test Team 2:02.920 2.638 0.015 26 / 60 2:05.295
14 NAKASUGA, Katsuyuki Yamaha Factory Racing Test Team 2:02.946 2.664 0.026 40 / 43 1:08.718
15 YOSHIKAWA, Wataru Yamaha Factory Racing Test Team 2:03.354 3.072 0.408 15 / 40 1:09.828
16 BARBERA, Hector Avintia Blusens 2:03.428 3.146 0.074 54 / 55 1:05.922
17 SPIES, Ben Ignite Pramac Racing Team 2:03.460 3.178 0.032 34 / 36 1:14.369
18 DE PUNIET, Randy Power Electronics Aspar 2:03.518 3.236 0.058 36 / 57 1:12.422
19 AOYAMA, Hiroshi Avintia Blusens 2:03.990 3.708 0.472 50 / 57 29:31.444
20 PETRUCCI, Danilo Came IodaRacing Project 2:04.279 3.997 0.289 50 / 50 1:23.518
21 ABRAHAM, Karel Cardion AB Motoracing 2:04.350 4.068 0.071 55 / 68 1:14.270
22 TAKAHASHI, Takumi HRC Test Team 2:04.512 4.230 0.162 55 / 77 1:13.207
23 EDWARDS, Colin NGM Mobile Forward Racing 2:04.656 4.374 0.144 18 / 44 1:12.813
24 HERNANDEZ, Yonny Paul Bird Motorsport 2:04.671 4.389 0.015 56 / 58 1:12.410
25 CORTI, Claudio NGM Mobile Forward Racing 2:04.709 4.427 0.038 19 / 29 25:15.775
26 STARING, Bryan GO&FUN Honda Gresini 2:05.439 5.157 0.730 37 / 44 1:20.671
27 PESEK, Lukas Came IodaRacing Project 2:06.206 5.924 0.767 17 / 45 1:15.164
28 LAVERTY, Michael Paul Bird Motorsport 2:07.721 7.439 1.515 18 / 19 1:24.141