MotoGP #SepangTest J.1 Laborious Sunday for Bautista and Abraham at Aspar

The two Ducatis of the Ángel Nieto Team struggled a little on this first day of testing, with the nineteenth time for Alvaro Bautista on his Ducati GP17 and the twenty-fourth for Karel Abraham on his GP16.

The Aspar team was completing their knowledge of the Ducati GP17, which proved complicated due to the rain. According to Gino Borsoi, Jorge Martinez's right-hand man, “ we only have one GP17 here in Sepang, we will have the second one for the following tests in Buriram in Thailand. We mainly work on electronics, just like on Karel Abraham's GP16. At the last Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang, in the wet Karel was ninth in the warm up in the wet, so he has good references here. »

A minor fall by Alvaro Bautista in turn 2 led to the session being interrupted with a red flag two hours from the end. The Spaniard, however, covered the total distance of 40 laps, average compared to the other competitors. Bautista clocked 2'01.728, 2.301 off Dani Pedrosa's best time, but 0.567 off Franco Morbidelli's 18th fastest time (second among the rookies behind Takaaki Nakagami).

Karel Abraham, who we remember comes from start your video channel, achieved his best lap in 2'02.088, 2.661 behind Pedrosa, and 0.035 behind Yonny Hernandez who preceded him in twenty-third place, discovering the Yamaha Tech 3.

Alvaro Bautista:

“The day started with rain, so we did a few laps, mainly to get some feeling after the break. Then, as the day improved, we were able to continue doing a few laps in the dry.

“It was just a shame we couldn't work all afternoon because of a fall.

“Until then I had been running on the same tire, so I couldn't put a new one on like the others, so we went back a bit on the timesheets. Luckily I just banged myself up a bit so tomorrow I can get back on track and continue the work. »

Karel Abraham:

“It was a very difficult day because the morning was completely wet and although we managed to do a few laps, we had to wait until 14 p.m. before we could really start.

“I had some problems with the bike, mainly with the gearbox, and I had to stop while the guys fixed the gearbox. It took about an hour and a half, we only had 45 minutes left to work.

“I managed two outings, in the first I was still not happy with the bike but in the second it was much better, and when we put new tires on the last three laps were pretty good.

“Now I want to see how we can improve, because in these three laps we found 1,5 seconds, which is pretty crazy. »

Results of the first day:

1. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda (RC213V) 1m 59.427s [Lap 55/56]
2. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (GP18) 1m 59.770s +0.343s [33/35]
3. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (GP18) 2m 59.802s +0.375s [38/38]
4. Danilo Petrucci ITA Pramac Ducati (GP18) 2m 0.123s +0.696s [29/30]
5. Jack Miller AUS Pramac Ducati (GP17) 2m 0.178s +0.751s [42/43]
6. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha (YZR-M1) 2m 0.233s +0.806s [44/50]
7. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda (RC213V) 2m 0.290s +0.863s [50/51]
8. Johann Zarco FRA Monster Yamaha Tech3 (YZR-M1) 2m 0.421s +0.994s [60/62]
9. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 2m 0.522s +1.095s [28/38]
10. Pol Espargaro ESP Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) 2m 0.568s +1.141s [38/39]
11. Alex Rins ESP Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)* 2m 0.627s +1.200s [61/63]
12. Takaaki Nakagami GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 2m 0.664s +1.237s [63/64]
13. Maverick Viñales ESP Movistar Yamaha (YZR-M1) 2m 0.714s +1.287s [55/72]
14. Aleix Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 2m 0.866s +1.439s [34/40]
15. Tito Rabat ESP Reale Avintia (GP17) 2m 0.912s +1.485s [66/66]
16. Andrea Iannone ITA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 2m 1.027s +1.600s [27/41]
17. Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) 2m 1.099s +1.672s [29/39]
18. Franco Morbidelli ESP EG 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V)* 2m 1.161s +1.734s [61/62]
19. Alvaro Bautista ESP Angel Nieto Team (GP17) 2m 1.728s +2.301s [30/40]
20. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 2m 1.864s +2.437s [37/58]
21. Scott Redding GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 2m 1.962s +2.535s [40/51]
22. Yamaha Test 3 JPN Yamaha Test Rider (YZR-M1) 2m 2.044s +2.617s [26/28]
23. Yonny Hernandez COL Monster Yamaha Tech3 (YZR-M1) 2m 2.053s +2.626s [47/47]
24. Karel Abraham CZE Angel Nieto Team (GP16) 2m 2.088s +2.661s [46/46]
25. Yamaha Test 2 JPN Yamaha Test Rider (YZR-M1) 2m 2.527s +3.100s [23/39]
26. Xavier Simeon ESP Reale Avintia (GP16)* 2m 2.946s +3.519s [45/47]
27. Tom Luthi SWI EG 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V)* 2m 3.732s +4.305s [57/58]
28. Yamaha Test 1 JPN Yamaha Test Rider (YZR-M1) 2m 3.786s +4.359s [3/3]
29. Michele Pirro ITA Ducati Test Rider (GP18) 2m 4.767s +5.340s [3/4]
30. Mika Kallio FIN Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) 2m 5.932s +6.505s [7/7]