Ben Spies - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com
Ben Spies clocked the fastest time on the second day of testing at Sepang but the riders were frustrated once again by a heavy rain shower which curtailed running for the second day in succession.
The Yamaha rider shaved half a second off Casey Stoner's benchmark from yesterday but the World Champion was unable to respond as Honda withdrew all of its riders for the day. The Repsol Honda team responded to an engine problem suffered by Dani Pedrosa on day one by sending the 1000cc unit back to Japan for investigation and by the time the results were known, the circuit had been drenched by rain. As a result, Stoner, Pedrosa, as well as satellite riders Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl, were forced to sit the day out.
With their chief rivals sidelined, Yamaha locked out the top four places with Jorge Lorenzo second quickest, 0.008s behind his teammate, while Tech 3's Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow were close behind in third and fourth respectively.
Unsurprisingly, they were followed by a quartet of Ducatis, led by Nicky Hayden, with sixth-placed Hector Barbera edging out Valentino Rossi once again. The Italian remained positive though and admitted he was encouraged by the performance of the GP12 with a number of updated parts today.
Franco Battaini was eight as he continued to fill in for the injured Karel Abraham while Colin Edwards was the quickest CRT runner, aided by the continued lack of pace from Avintia Racing. Ivan Silva was the leading rider for the BQR squad but trailed Spies by over six seconds.
Official MotoGP Test – Sepang (29/02/2012)
MotoGP Testing – Malaysia (Day Two Result)
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Bike | Team | Lap Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ben Spies | USA | Yamaha | Yamaha Factory Racing | 2:01.285 |
| 2 | Jorge Lorenzo | SPA | Yamaha | Yamaha Factory Racing | 2:01.293 |
| 3 | Andrea Dovizioso | ITA | Yamaha | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 2:01.522 |
| 4 | Cal Crutchlow | GBR | Yamaha | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 2:01.695 |
| 5 | Nicky Hayden | USA | Ducati | Ducati Team | 2:01.748 |
| 6 | Hector Barbera | SPA | Ducati | Pramac Racing Team | 2:01.989 |
| 7 | Valentino Rossi | ITA | Ducati | Ducati Team | 2:02.130 |
| 8 | Franco Battaini | ITA | Ducati | Cardion AB Motoracing | 2:03.566 |
| 9 | Colin Edwards (CRT) | USA | Suter-BMW | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | 2:05.816 |
| 10 | Ivan Silva (CRT) | SPA | FTR-Kawasaki | Avintia Racing | 2:07.532 |
| 11 | Yonny Hernandez (CRT) | COL | FTR-Kawasaki | Avintia Racing | 2:08.213 |
