Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez signed off the second Sepang test with the quickest overall time as the reigning MotoGP champion clocked a 1’59.115 on the final day of action to once again set the pace in pre-season testing.
In what has become a familiar scene during testing, the morning of the third day was used by the riders to push for a quick lap time before the oppressive tropical heat reduces grip levels later in the day. On his thirteenth lap of the morning, Marquez set a benchmark time that was 0.322 seconds clear of his closest rival, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo. Third quickest overall was CWM LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow, whose best effort was a 1’59.658.
A total of twenty-seven riders took part in the second MotoGP group test of 2015; the twenty-five full time riders plus two test riders, Ducati’s Michele Pirro and Yamaha’s Katsuyuki Nakasuga. The riders completed a total of 3811 laps (21,224 kilometres) on Bridgestone tyres over the three days, 618 less than completed in the first test. The gap in lap time from the quickest to slowest rider at the second Sepang test was 4.454 seconds.
Conditions over the three days at Sepang were generally fine and very hot, with rain interrupting the afternoon of the first day. The heat intensified on the final day, with a peak track temperature of 60°C recorded at 1400 local time, the highest figure recorded at the Malaysian circuit in years.
With the well-worn Sepang circuit offering little grip, the riders preferred to use softer rubber compounds over the three days. The most popular tyre were the symmetric soft and asymmetric medium compound rear slicks, and the medium compound front slick. Over the course of the two MotoGP group tests at Sepang, the general consensus of the riders is that Bridgestone’s latest race tyres offer improved, consistent performance with high levels of feel and usability.
Masao Azuma – Chief Engineer, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department
“Over the last three days we’ve had quite extreme conditions but our tyre allocation enabled the riders to lap at a quick and consistent pace. The rain on day one of the test gave the riders the chance to work on their wet set up and it also provided the rookie riders a valuable opportunity to sample our wet tyres. Following on the good feedback we received at the first Sepang test, the riders were again happy with the performance of our 2015 specification tyres and we were able to collect some good information that we can use adjust our tyre allocation for this season. We have just concluded two successful tests at Sepang and I am now looking forward to a productive test at Qatar next month.”
Sepang II MotoGP Group Test – combined lap times
1. Marc MARQUEZ
Repsol Honda Team
1'59.115
2. Jorge LORENZO
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP
1'59.437
3. Cal CRUTCHLOW
CWM LCR Honda
1'59.658
4. Andrea IANNONE
Ducati Team
1'59.722
5. Valentino ROSSI
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP
1'59.833
6. Bradley SMITH
Monster Yamaha Tech 3
1'59.883
7. Dani PEDROSA
Repsol Honda Team
2'00.048
8. Hector BARBERA
Avintia Racing
2'00.244
9. Andrea DOVIZIOSO
Ducati Team
2'00.250
10. Aleix ESPARGARO
Team Suzuki MotoGP
2'00.275
11. Pol ESPARGARO
Monster Yamaha Tech 3
2'00.490
12. Danilo PETRUCCI
Pramac Racing
2'00.556
13. Yonny HERNANDEZ
Pramac Racing
2'00.603
14. Maverick VIÑALES
Team Suzuki MotoGP
2'00.604
15. Stefan BRADL
Forward Racing Team
2'00.685
16. Scott REDDING
Estrella Galicia 0.0 Marc VDS
2'00.695
17. Nicky HAYDEN
Drive M7 Aspar
2'00.813
18. Michele PIRRO
Ducati Test Team
2'00.875
19. Alvaro BAUTISTA
Aprilia Racing Team Gresini
2'01.310
20. Mike DI MEGLIO
Avintia Racing
2'01.487
21. Karel ABRAHAM
AB Motoracing
2'01.536
22. Jack MILLER
CWM LCR Honda
2'01.593
23. Eugene LAVERTY
Drive M7 Aspar
2'01.815
24. Loris BAZ
Forward Racing Team
2'02.426
25. Alex DE ANGELIS
Octo Ioda Racing Team
2'03.300
26. Katsuyuki NAKASUGA
Yamaha Factory Test Team
2'03.337
27. Marco MELANDRI
Aprilia Racing Team Gresini
2'03.569
