Jorge Lorenzo sent Yamaha to the top of the timesheets on day two of the Sepang pre-season test with the first sub-two minute lap of the week. The Spaniard met stiff competition as Andrea Dovizioso put on another eye-catching performance but Lorenzo’s flyer late in the morning saw him edge out the Ducati.
The impressive performance of Ducati’s interim GP14.3 was one of the headline stories on day one and with cooler conditions marking the start of day two, Dovizioso impressed again with a 2:00.015 on soft tyres. This came on the Italian’s third flying lap of the morning and his benchmark time would remain unbeaten for much of the morning.
On the stroke of lunch, Lorenzo came to life and broke into the 1:59s on the improving Yamaha YZR-M1, five hundredths quicker than Dovizioso. Wednesday pacesetter Marc Marquez was another rider to peak around lunchtime with a 2:00.146 good enough for third, with the world champion’s day ending with a minor spill at turn eight.
Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Iannone backed up their respective teammates with fourth and fifth as Valentino Rossi slipped to sixth, the Movistar Yamaha rider failing to match his pace from the opening day. Seventh placed Pol Espargaro was another rider that failed to improve, the Tech 3 youngster crashing for the second consecutive day, while Cal Crutchlow split the Spaniard from his teammate Bradley Smith who rode through the pain barrier to take ninth, completing 51 laps.
After promising that Suzuki’s best days were ahead of them, Aleix Espargaro was good to his word as he broke into the top ten, taking almost a second off his Wednesday best. His teammate Maverick Vinales was another big climber on the second day, improving by 1.2s to finish fifteenth, ensuring he would take the honour of top rookie away from CWM-LCR Honda’s Jack Miller.
2015 MotoGP Testing: Sepang – February 5
| 1 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | 1:59.963 |
| 2 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | Ducati Team | 2:00.015 |
| 3 | Marc Marquez | Honda | Repsol Honda Team | 2:00.146 |
| 4 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda | Repsol Honda Team | 2:00.260 |
| 5 | Andrea Iannone | Ducati | Ducati Team | 2:00.391 |
| 6 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | 2:00.676 |
| 7 | Pol Espargaro | Yamaha | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 2:00.959 |
| 8 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | CWM LCR Honda | 2:01.058 |
| 9 | Bradley Smith | Yamaha | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 2:01.098 |
| 10 | Aleix Espargaro | Suzuki | Team Suzuki MotoGP | 2:01.344 |
| 11 | Stefan Bradl | Forward Yamaha | Forward Racing | 2:01.484 |
| 12 | Hector Barbera | Ducati | Avintia Racing | 2:01.615 |
| 13 | Hiroshi Aoyama | Honda | HRC | 2:01.772 |
| 14 | Scott Redding | Honda | Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS | 2:01.844 |
| 15 | Maverick Vinales | Suzuki | Team Suzuki MotoGP | 2:01.916 |
| 16 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati | Pramac Racing | 2:01.932 |
| 17 | Alvaro Bautista | Aprilia | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 2:02.155 |
| 18 | Michele Pirro | Ducati | Pramac Racing | 2:02.199 |
| 19 | Nicky Hayden | Honda | Drive M7 Aspar | 2:02.228 |
| 20 | Karel Abraham | Honda | AB Motoracing | 2:02.574 |
| 21 | Loris Baz | Forward Yamaha | Forward Racing | 2:02.842 |
| 22 | Katsuyuki Nakasuga | Yamaha | Yamaha Factory Test Team | 2:02.914 |
| 23 | Jack Miller | Honda | CWM LCR Honda | 2:03.083 |
| 24 | Eugene Laverty | Honda | Drive M7 Aspar | 2:03.129 |
| 25 | Alex de Angelis | ART | Octo IodaRacing Team | 2:03.399 |
| 26 | Mike di Meglio | Ducati | Avintia Racing | 2:03.609 |
| 27 | Takumi Takahashi | Honda | HRC | 2:03.781 |
| 28 | Marco Melandri | Aprilia | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 2:04.487 |
