Andrea Iannone moved Suzuki to the top of the timesheets on day two of pre-season testing at Sepang. Tuesday’s running was largely disrupted by overnight rain and a slowly-drying track surface but once conditions were suitable for dry running, Iannone set a blistering pace on the GSX-RR.
With such a limited window of track time in the dry, many riders came unstuck during the afternoon with Tito Rabat suffering the biggest accident of them all. The Marc VDS rider lost control at turn eleven before being taken to a nearby hospital where he was diagnosed with a fractured hand, as well as wounds to both wrists, his left knee and his right foot. As a result, the Spaniard will take no further part in this week’s test.
Although Iannone was the fastest man of all, the Yamaha factory riders were particularly busy as they tested a new fairing on their YZR-M1, notable for its internal winglets as teams look to get around the 2017 ban on external winglets. The initial impressions were positive with Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi second and fourth, sandwiching Alvaro Bautista who impressed once again for Aspar.
Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s rookie pairing also continue to have an outstanding week with double Moto2 champion Johann Zarco fifth, just ahead of Hector Barbera while factory Ducati teammates Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo finished seventh and eighth respectively, Lorenzo chopping almost a second off his Monday best.
Jonas Folger was ninth quickest with reigning champion Marc Marquez continuing to fly under the radar, finishing as the leading Honda rider in tenth. Aleix Espargaro remains the leading Aprilia challenger in eleventh while his brother Pol was twentieth on the brand-new KTM.
2017 MotoGP Official Pre-Season Test: Sepang (Day Two)
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