The riders definitely raised the bar on the second day of the MotoGP collective tests on the Sepang circuit. At the stroke of 2pm local time, therefore exactly halfway through the session, 11 riders had already had the opportunity to break the 1'58″ barrier. Jorge Martin confirmed himself in great form, because the Prima Pramac standard bearer Racing is once again at the top of the time list and with his Ducati he has touched the record of the Malaysian track, dropping to 1'57″273.
Among other things, it seems to have been a rather productive morning at Ducati, because both “Martinator” and the two official riders, Pecco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini, had the opportunity to try the aerodynamic package that was introduced by test rider Michele Pirro during the Shakedown and it seems that they have had positive indications, because it would make the Desmosedici GP24 easier to handle when cornering and would help to stop it better when braking.
Compared to yesterday, Bagnaia also made a nice leap forward, because the world champion is fourth with a 1'57″469 which is quite in line with the time with which he took pole position in Sepang last year. Indeed, is slightly lower, therefore below the record. “Beast” on the other hand is 11th and is the last to have fallen below 1'58″.
Between the two contenders for the 2023 title were Brad Binder's KTM and Aleix Espargaro's Aprilia, both of which also fell below the official track record. The South African lapped in 1'57″327 with an RC16 on which aerodynamic experiments began, for example with the arrival of a new fairing. In the garage of the Noale manufacturer, however, they have definitively put the 2023 RS-GP aside , focusing on the new bike and the result for the Granollers rider was a 1'57″446. His team mate Maverick Vinales was further behind, 18th in 1'58″456.
Behind Bagnaia there are two other Ducatis, but in this case they are the GP23s of Fabio Di Giannantonio and Alex Marquez, both with a pace of 1'57″6. In this small group we can also include the other representative of the Pertamina Enduro VR46, or Marco Bezzecchi, who occupies eighth position in 1'57″867.
In front of the Rimini native we can continue to observe the improvements of Pedro Acosta, who this morning fell below the 1'58″ barrier. The GasGas Tech3 rookie has confirmed himself in the top 10 for the moment, despite also having a crash at the turn 9, fortunately without any particular consequences. The feeling, however, is that it won't take him too long to be a protagonist even when he starts to get serious, because the boy learns very quickly. But this too shouldn't be a surprise, given that we're talking about the one that everyone points to as the next generational talent.
Honda also made progress, with Joan Mir managing to put the RC213V in ninth position with a time of 1'57″872. For the moment, however, Luca Marini seems to be struggling a little more, who is half a second further back in 17th position and also follows the other two LCR-branded bikes of Johann Zarco and Takaaki Nakagami, who are in 12th and 16th place respectively.
Among those who dropped below 1'58″ there is also room for Fabio Quartararo, even if the Frenchman is only tenth in 1'57″888. The good news for Yamaha, however, is that even today the M1 of “El Diablo” entered the top positions with a certain regularity in the top speed rankings, because it is well known that that was one of the main requests made to the Japanese technicians to try to return to winning ways after a 2023 to forget.
Marc Marquez continues to struggle to find the rhythm. The eight-time world champion is the last among the Ducati regular riders and for the moment he has remained above the fateful threshold of 1'58″. The Gresini Racing representative today put together 39 laps, but not he managed to do better than a 1'58″118 which places him in 13th position.
We must also remember the absence due to injury of Franco Morbidelli and Raul Fernandez. So test riders Michele Pirro and Lorenzo Savadori got on the Ducati of Prima Pramac Racing and the Aprilia of Trackhouse Racing today.
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