Enea Bastianini was fastest on his Ducati on the second day of pre-season free testing in Malaysia. Jorge Martin and Brad Binder are hot on his heels.
Italian rider Enea Bastianini, on his official Ducati, finished at the top of the times on the second day of pre-season testing at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia on Wednesday.
The teammate of the reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia improved his time from the day before by more than a second, completing his best lap in 1 min 57 sec and 134/1000 and establishing a new Malaysian circuit record in the process – unofficial because established outside the Grand Prix.
The Spaniard Jorge Martin (Ducati-Pramac), first on Tuesday, ranks second and the South African Brad Binder (KTM) takes third place at the end of eight hours of driving this day of testing.
The double Italian world champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), whom his team still hopes to extend before the first Grand Prix in Qatar at the beginning of March, managed the 5th time, almost half a second from his compatriot and teammate in red.
The six-time Spanish MotoGP world champion, Marc Marquez, eagerly awaited on the handlebars of his Ducati-Gresini, settled for 14th place, completing 72 laps (the most of the day) on the handlebars of his new mount.
By his own admission on the Motogp.com website, he “preferred to sacrifice the time” to favor long series over “looking for adjustments to be less stiff on the bike”.
The pace clearly improved on the second day of testing for the entire paddock, as proof the newcomer in the category, the surprising Spaniard Pedro Acosta (Gasgas-Tech3), only finished 8th although he did half a second better than his time the day before. The final day of pre-season testing will take place on Thursday, still on the more than 5 km Sepang track in Malaysia, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. local time.
Rankings from the second day of pre-season testing which took place on Wednesday at the Sepang circuit (5.54 km) in Malaysia:
1. Enea Bastianini (ITA/Ducati) 1:57.134
2. Jorge Martin (ESP/Ducati-Pramac) at 0.139
3. Brad Binder (RSA/KTM) at 0.193
4. Aleix Espargaro (ESP/Aprilia) 0.312
5. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Ducati) 0.335
6. Fabio Di Giannantonio (ITA/Ducati-VR46) 0.485
7. Alex Marquez (ESP/Ducati-Gresini) 0.538
8. Pedro Acosta (ESP/Gasgas-Tech3) 0.592
9. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA/Ducati-VR46) 0.733
10. Joan Mir (ESP/Honda) 0.738
11. Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha) 0.754
12. Johann Zarco (FRA/Honda-LCR) 0.877
13. Alex Rins (ESP/Yamaha) 0.976
14. Marc Marquez (ESP/Ducati-Gresini) 0.984
15. Jack Miller (AUS/KTM) 1,166
16. Takaaki Nakagami (JAP/Honda-LCR) 1,238
17. Luca Marini (ITA/Honda) 1,260
18. Maverick Vinales (ESP/Aprilia) 1,322
19. Miguel Oliveira (POR/Trackhouse) 1,415
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