MotoGP #SepangTest J.2: A second day definitely dominated by Yamaha's boys!

The Malaysian scenario is now known and well-established: it rains at least during the night and, in the morning, the track is not dry, whether it is completely wet or still contains patches of humidity...

Since last year, the coating no longer oozes as it did after its complete renovation in 2016 (see here), but the ambient humidity still requires a few hours before the temperature of around thirty degrees succeeds in completely drying the track.

So let's take advantage of this time to consult the references of the place:

#SepangTest	2017	2018
J.1	1'59.452 Andrea Iannone	1'59.427 Dani Pedrosa
J.2	1'59.452 Andrea Iannone	1'59.355 Maverick Vinales
J.3	1'59.368 Maverick Vinales
Test Record	1'58.867 Marquez 2015
GP Record	1'59.053 Pedrosa 2015

We had barely published our mid-day point thatAndrea Dovizioso improved the provisional best time by 3 hundredths of a Valentino Rossi dominator of the morning, wearing the replica of the colors he wore in 1996 during his first season in the 125cc World Championship. This AGV Pista GP R Rossi 20 Years will be available in Limited Edition from February 2018 at the recommended price of 1500 euros...

Shortly before 15 p.m., Espargaro Pol, who had put his name at the top of the rankings at the end of the first hour, lost control of his KTM RC 16 at turn #4 before being evacuated to the circuit's medical center. He will finally be declared fit to continue but will have generated a red flag for around ten minutes.

Upon resumption, Andrea Iannone suffered an engine fire on his Suzuki. Certainly, a setback for the one who fell twice yesterday, but which is not detrimental, the Suzuki having in any case recovered the advantages linked to concessions this year...

Then followed a good two hours before Marc Marquez delivers a first blow for 2 thousandths of a second!

At exactly 17:14 p.m., Johann zarco connects 2 laps which propel him to the top of the provisional ranking, in 1'59.702.

Ten minutes later, Cal Crutchlow takes over in 1'59.443, quickly followed by Jorge Lorenzo, 5 hundredths behind.

20 minutes from the checkered flag, the Top 10 is made up of Cal Crutchlow, Jorge Lorenzo, Johann Zarco, Marc Marquez, Andrea Dovizioso, Valentino Rossi, Aleix Espargaro, Jack Miller, Dani Pedrosa and Alex Rins, all in 6/10 of a second. We are surprised not to find Maverick Vinales in this list, then 14th at 1,1 seconds.

Five minutes later, Valentino Rossi produced his effort and lit three partials in red to register a 1'59.390 at the top of the table, the best time of these first two days of testing.

The replica of Maverick Vinales comes in the next lap, in 1'59.355.

There are eight minutes left when Andrea Iannone also lights the second sector red. The Suzuki rider, then 14th, just entered the Top 10.

Five minutes from the end of the session, all the leaders are already in their boxes following the high speed crash Marc Marquez (driver OK) and the appearance of raindrops: the ranking will no longer change, definitively marking this session with the seal of the three tuning forks.

See you later today for the debriefing of the headliners who are still 13 in less than 7 tenths!