Dani Pedrosa shrugged off a spot of jet-lag to set the fastest time on day two of the second pre-season test at Sepang. The Spaniard ensured Repsol Honda remained the dominant force despite the absence of Marc Marquez with a lap three tenths quicker than Forward Racing’s Aleix Espargaro.
The reigning champions didn’t enjoy the best of starts to day two with the news that Marquez will not return to action until the first practice session in Qatar. The 21 year old will not recover in time for the tyre test at Phillip Island next week and saw attempts from his team to allow him to attend the Qatar test blocked by rivals.
Pedrosa’s day started slowly too as he shook off the effects of his journey to Malaysia but the Spaniard made up for lost time in the afternoon. Dani’s best lap of 2:00.039 saw him pip Aleix Espargaro’s open-spec FTR Yamaha which continues to be one of the success stories of winter testing. Alvaro Bautista dropped to third after topping the times yesterday while Valentino Rossi took fourth on the leading factory Yamaha.
Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow showed signs of improvement from Ducati’s GP14 by finishing the day in fifth and seventh respectively, sandwiching the LCR Honda of Stefan Bradl. Pol Espargaro was eighth for Tech 3 with fellow Yamaha riders Jorge Lorenzo and Bradley Smith rounding out the top ten, the former still struggling for edge grip on the 2014 Bridgestone tyres.
| MOTOGP OFFICIAL TEST – SEPANG (THURSDAY 27TH FEBRUARY) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| POS | RIDER | MOTORCYCLE | TEAM | TIME |
| 1 |  DANI PEDROSA |
HONDA | REPSOL HONDA TEAM | 2:00.039 |
| 2 | ALEIX ESPARGARO |
FORWARD YAMAHA | NGM MOBILE FORWARD RACING | 2:00.320 |
| 3 | ALVARO BAUTISTA |
HONDA | GO&FUN HONDA GRESINI | 2:00.500 |
| 4 |  VALENTINO ROSSI |
YAMAHA | YAMAHA FACTORY RACING | 2:00.605 |
| 5 | ANDREA DOVIZIOSO |
DUCATI | DUCATI TEAM | 2:00.787 |
| 6 |  STEFAN BRADL |
HONDA | LCR HONDA MOTOGP | 2:00.902 |
| 7 |  CAL CRUTCHLOW |
DUCATI | DUCATI TEAM | 2:00.952 |
| 8 | POL ESPARGARO |
YAMAHA | MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3 | 2:01.027 |
| 9 | JORGE LORENZO |
YAMAHA | YAMAHA FACTORY RACING | 2:01.049 |
| 10 | BRADLEY SMITH |
YAMAHA | MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3 | 2:01.098 |
| 11 | ANDREA IANNONE |
DUCATI | ENERGY T.I. PRAMAC RACING | 2:01.173 |
| 12 |  YONNY HERNANDEZ |
DUCATI | IGNITE PRAMAC RACING TEAM | 2:01.658 |
| 13 |  COLIN EDWARDS |
FORWARD YAHAMA | NGM MOBILE FORWARD RACING | 2:01.996 |
| 14 | NICKY HAYDEN |
HONDA | DRIVE M7 ASPAR | 2:02.088 |
| 15 |  RANDY DE PUNIET |
SUZUKI | SUZUKI TEST TEAM | 2:02.139 |
| 16 | HECTOR BARBERA |
FTR KAWASAKI | AVINTIA BLUSENS | 2:02.149 |
| 17 | SCOTT REDDING |
HONDA | GO&FUN HONDA GRESINI | 2:02.652 |
| 18 |  HIROSHI AOYAMA |
HONDA | DRIVE M7 ASPAR | 2:02.786 |
| 19 | MICHELE PIRRO |
DUCATI | DUCATI TEST TEAM | 2:02.799 |
| 20 | KATSUYUKI NAKASUGA |
YAMAHA | YAMAHA FACTORY TEST TEAM | 2:02.802 |
| 21 | MIKE DI MEGLIO |
FTR KAWASAKI | AVINTIA BLUSENS | 2:03.946 |
| 22 |  KAREL ABRAHAM |
HONDA | CARDION AB MOTORACING | 2:05.198 |
| 23 | NOBUATSU AOKI |
SUZUKI | SUZUKI TEST TEAM | 2:07.462 |
