MotoGP, Sepang Tests: the track does not dry off, only Lorenzo goes out

The Sepang track continues to delay the MotoGP tests. The heavy downpour from yesterday evening made the track unusable. The culprit is the new asphalt – or rather, the underlying layer – that does not allow drainage. That meant that this morning the riders were unable to do anything other than look at the puddles on the asphalt and stay in pit lane.

The discontent in the paddock is palpable, because one of the characteristics of the Malaysian track - before the resurfacing – was that it dried out in a flash, whereas now it takes an eternity. Clearly, with only 9 days of testing available before the championship begins, losing even one is news that is not taken lightly.

This morning, the only rider to take a few laps with rain tyres was Jorge Lorenzo, who thereby tried to take advantage of such particular conditions to line up around twenty corners and get to know his Ducati better.

As for the rest, test riders Pirro and Tsuda were seen briefly, and Petrucci went out just long enough to make sure everything was working on his second GP17, a few more laps for Zarco.

At 2:00 PM in Sepang, the riders seemed intent on trying to get in a few laps, or at least some of them, despite the fact that damp patches can still be clearly seen on the asphalt. The first to leave pit lane was Pedrosa.

THE TIMES AT 2 PM