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The test riders who arrived at the Sepang circuit were welcomed by rain for the second day of the Shakedown. It wasn’t a violent downpour, which is typical of Malaysia, but an incessant drizzle that complicated the development work on the new bikes. Despite the inclement weather, they still took advantage of the time available, despite the wet asphalt.
This was especially true for rookie Augusto Fernandez, as Francesco Guidotti observed. He’s trying to gain experience on his GasGas, under these unique conditions. The Spanish rider seems to be progressing and, at 1 pm in Sepang, he had the best time, thanks to a 2’12”255 time trial.
Even Michele Pirro spared no effort on the Ducati, as he strung together 20 laps and is the rider who rode the most in the morning, after Crutchlow with 21. His time is second, 0”452 from the reigning Moto2 champion.
Honda relied on Stefan Bradl, 4th on the wet asphalt behind Cal Crutchlow’s Yamaha, with a delay of 1”164 and 0”730 from Augusto, respectively. Work also continued for Lorenzo Savadori (he alternated on 6 different bikes yesterday, in order to prepare the official team’s RS-GPs and and also RNF’s), with a 5th time in wet conditions (the Yamaha you see in the rankings is also ridden by Crutchlow).
Jonas Folger did only 2 laps for KTM, but Dani Pedrosa was also on the track. Dani didn’t install the transponder on his bike yesterday, so he doesn’t appear on the list.
The tests will continue until 6 pm, hoping the bad weather will give them some respite in the afternoon.
3:30 PM UPDATE - The good news is that it finally stopped raining in Sepang, even if the sky remained cloudy and the asphalt was struggling to dry. The riders had stopped their activities for a lunch break, hoping the conditions would further improve, in order to do more laps.
THE TIMES AT 3:30 PM
I TEMPI ALLE 13
