Valentino Rossi - the fastest in first day of second Sepang MotoGP Test

After two weeks of analyzing data, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo have returned to the Sepang International Circuit for the start of the second official three-day pre-season test. Despite the difficult track and weather conditions the teammates were able to finish today’s session in first and fifth respectively.

Rossi was up for the challenge of repeating his strong ride of two weeks ago. He needed little time to get back into the swing of things and was quick to take over the top spot from his teammate at the start of the eight-hour long session.

As the temperature started rising the pace of the field picked up, but the Doctor was quick to respond and cruised back to the top the leader board with an impressive 2’00.414s lap, which kept him sitting on top for the rest of the session.

Valentino Rossi Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - 1st | 2'00.414 | 54 Laps
“Everybody in our team was curious about the updated gearbox and the first impression is quite positive, so I’m happy. It doesn’t make a huge difference, but it’s a small help in a difficult point where we need to improve. The bike is a bit better in braking and corner entry and I think we need to work to understand the maximal potential, but the first test was good. I am happy to finish in the first position because I was in P1 from this morning, so it’s a good first day. It’s important for us to make some kilometers on the wet. I don’t really like the feeling with the bike on the wet and last year I struggled a bit. We already improved a bit today, but we need to do some more testing and make some more kilometers.”

Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda MotoGP - 2nd | 2’00.543 | 52 Laps
"Today we focused on testing different setups for the bike and I think it went well. We have not tried any new parts, instead confirming our findings with what we had at the last test, even though the track was not perfect. It rained at the end, so we could also ride a little in those conditions. Tomorrow we will continue testing some changes to the setup, to see if we can come up with some improvements that allow us to ride more comfortably."

Pol Espargaro Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - 3rd | 2'00.876 | 45 Laps
"I am really happy with the progress that we have made today and to finish in third is a great start to this test. We are continuing to work in the right direction and as soon as we started this morning, I knew that we could be quick. At midday it was already 54 degrees on the ground which was clearly warmer than the first test where it reached a max of 50 and so we weren’t able to ride as many laps. However, the general feeling for today was that it was productive and we focused on trying different electronic settings. The information that we collected will be very useful and furthermore, it was very good to run some laps in the rain as well. This meant that we could work on the wet setup and I am really pleased with this especially, as there is a definite improvement. The 2015 Yamaha feels great and I know that if I can ride a bit smoother and adjust my riding style slightly, we can be strong. There are a few more things which we have to study in order to improve, but we cannot rush everything and we must take it all step by step."

Sepang2 MotoGP Test Results - Day1:
1 ROSSI Valentino 46 ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 2'00.414
2 PEDROSA Dani 26 SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 2'00.543
3 ESPARGARO Pol 44 SPA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 2'00.876
4 ESPARGARO Aleix 41 SPA Team Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 2'01.055
5 LORENZO Jorge 99 SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 2'01.162
6 MARQUEZ Marc 93 SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 2'01.190
7 CRUTCHLOW Cal 35 GBR CWM LCR Honda Honda 2'01.222
8 SMITH Bradley 38 GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 2'01.241
9 VINALES Maverick 25 SPA Team Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 2'01.317
10 DOVIZIOSO Andrea 4 ITA Ducati Team Ducati 2'01.355
11 REDDING Scott 45 GBR Marc VDS Racing Team Honda 2'01.592
12 BAUTISTA Alvaro 19 SPA Factory Aprilia Gresini Aprilia 2'01.740
13 BARBERA Hector 8 SPA Avintia Racing Ducati 2'01.926
14 HAYDEN Nicky 69 USA Drive M7 Aspar Honda 2'02.262
15 IANNONE Andrea 29 ITA Ducati Team Ducati 2'02.142
16 PETRUCCI Danilo 9 ITA Pramac Racing Ducati 2'02.225
17 ABRAHAM Karel 17 CZE Cardion AB Motoracing Honda 2'02.394
18 BRADL Stefan 6 GER NGM Forward Racing Forward Yamaha 2'02.410
19 HERNANDEZ Yonny 68 COL Pramac Racing Ducati 2'02.606
20 LAVERTY Eugene 50 IRE Drive M7 Aspar Honda 2'02.730
21 DI MEGLIO Mike 63 FRA Avintia Racing Ducati 2'02.941
22 MILLER Jack 43 AUS CWM LCR Honda Honda 2'03.006
23 PIRRO Michele 51 ITA Ducati Team Ducati 2'03.105
24 BAZ Loris 76 FRA NGM Forward Racing Forward Yamaha 2'03.316
25 NAKASUGA Katsuyuki T1 JPN Yamaha Test Team Yamaha 2'03.337
26 DE ANGELIS Alex 15 RSM NGM Forward Racing Forward Yamaha 2'03.966
27 MELANDRI Marco 33 ITA Factory Aprilia Gresini Aprilia 2'04.000