Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa continues to top the timesheets at Sepang's MotoGP test on day two, but hasn't put a significsant gap between himself and 2013 title rival Jorge Lorenzo, who was just 0.019s behind.

The smaller Spaniard went round in 2'00.549, which is the same time as he set in qualifying at the track last year, while Lorenzo popped in a 2:00.568 with wunderkind Marc Marquez in third, a further quarter of a second in arrears.

“Today I was able to try some more things on the bike and we made a few positive steps forward from yesterday. The feeling is good, I'm happy and that's what's important. We had planned to try a few more things in the afternoon, like the hard compound tyres, but it started to rain early and we were unable to go out," said Pedrosa.

"We hope that it is good weather tomorrow so that we can try them out, as over the coming season it will be important to ride fast on that compound. We also hope to continue moving forward with our quest for the best bike setup.”

It continues to be good news for Valentino Rossi, who got close to the 2'00 mark with a 2'01.038 which puts him half a second behind Pedrosa with a day left in the schedule.

Britain's Cal Crutchlow was right on The Doctor's tail, putting his Monster Yamaha in fifth on a 2'01.311 while team-mate and rookie Bradley Smith screamed into eighth place late on and follows HRC-backed riders Stefan Bradl and Alvaro Bautista.

Ducati's Nicky Hayden was the lead Desmosedici in ninth place while Andrea Dovizioso, who must now be realised the mountain he has to climb, was tenth and 1.8s off the pace.

PBM Aprilia's Michael Laverty continues his CRT MotoGP induction and put in 31 laps today with a best of 2'05.417, a little over two seconds slower than Aleix Espargaro who heads the sub-class times.

Laverty is facing the same steep learning curve as his predecessor James Ellison and the Irishman is coping well with the switch to finicky Bridgestones and carbon brakes.

Sepang MotoGP test day two - conditions dry

1 PEDROSA, Dani Repsol Honda Team 2:00.549 29 / 37 1:08.374

2 LORENZO, Jorge Yamaha Factory Racing 2:00.568 0.019 0.019 6 / 52 1:22.196

3 MARQUEZ, Marc Repsol Honda Team 2:00.803 0.235 0.254 20 / 34 1:09.647

4 ROSSI, Valentino Yamaha Factory Racing 2:01.038 0.235 0.489 20 / 45 13:48.492

5 CRUTCHLOW, Cal Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2:01.311 0.273 0.762 31 / 41 1:42.071

6 BRADL, Stefan LCR Honda MotoGP 2:01.369 0.058 0.820 5 / 31 2:20.371

7 BAUTISTA, Alvaro Go & Fun Honda Gresini 2:01.729 0.360 1.180 18 / 46 2:24.923

8 SMITH, Bradley Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2:01.931 0.202 1.382 32 / 40 2:30.452

9 HAYDEN, Nicky Ducati Team 2:02.110 0.179 1.561 30 / 51 1:42.036

10 DOVIZIOSO, Andrea Ducati Team 2:02.379 0.269 1.830 33 / 51 1:17.180

11 AKIYOSHI, Kosuke HRC Test Team 2:02.526 0.147 1.977 16 / 29 1:18.549

12 NAKASUGA, Katsayuki Yamaha Factory 2:02.701 0.175 2.152 10 / 30 2:22.591

13 SPIES, Ben Ignite Pramac Racing Team 2:03.002 0.301 2.453 22 / 27 1:25.191

14 YOSHIKAWA, Wataru Yamaha Factory 2:03.156 0.154 2.607 6 / 39 1:13.530

15 IANNONE, Andrea Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team 2:03.169 0.013 2.620 15 / 29 2:24.183

16 ESPARGARO, Aleix Power Electronics Aspar 2:03.251 0.082 2.702 29 / 40 1:10.189

17 DE PUNIET, Randy Power Electronics Aspar 2:03.791 0.540 3.242 38 / 63 1:23.641

18 PETRUCCI, Danilo Came IodaRacing Project 2:04.284 0.493 3.735 47 / 48 1:08.774

19 TAKAHASHI, Takumi HRC Test Team 2:04.559 0.275 4.010 41 / 44 1:15.599

20 AOYAMA, Hiroshi Avintia Blusens 2:04.786 0.227 4.237 23 / 32 1:15.538

21 BARBERA, Hector Avintia Blusens 2:04.989 0.203 4.440 15 / 28 1:05.360

22 ABRAHAM, Karel Cardion AB Motoracing 2:05.028 0.039 4.479 12 / 54 1:17.877

23 LAVERTY, Michael Paul Bird Motorsport 2:05.417 0.389 4.868 13 / 31 2:41.682

24 CORTI, Claudio NGM Mobile Forward Racing 2:05.721 0.304 5.172 21 / 22 1:22.330

25 HERNANDEZ, Yonny Paul Bird Motorsport 2:05.837 0.116 5.288 27 / 36 2:22.424

26 EDWARDS, Colin NGM Mobile Forward Racing 2:06.205 0.368 5.656 22 / 23 1:21.502

27 STARING, Bryan Go & Fun Honda Gresini 2:06.898 0.693 6.349 22 / 33 1:19.994

28 PESEK, Lukas Came IodaRacing Project 2:21.512 14.614 20.963 12 / 14 7:37.065