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MotoGP
MOTOGP: Pedrosa Tops Thursday, Lorenzo Leads Overall
The penultimate preseason test before the start of the 2013 MotoGP season wrapped today in Sepang.
Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa (Photo: Honda Pro Images)
MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo led the way in this week’s test session at Sepang. Despite falling behind Repsol Honda Team’s Dani Pedrosa and Marc Márquez on Thursday, the Yamaha Factory Racing rider had already delivered his fastest ever lap in Malaysia. Britain’s Cal Crutchlow finished fourth.
As with the previous Sepang gathering of three weeks earlier, the weather played a part as rain rooted riders to their garages at some points. The same could be said for Thursday morning, when more typically heavy showers overnight resulted in a saturated track and effectively wiped out the first 90 minutes of running time.
Today it was Pedrosa atop the timesheets with a personal best of 2’00.562, meaning he has led five of the six pre-season days in Malaysia this year. The best overall tour was an impressive one from Lorenzo, with the Mallorcan managing to dip under the official lap record with his endeavor of 2’00.282 during a three-lap run on Wednesday. On the final day he had hoped for a long run and managed a particularly consistent 20-lap stint in which he appeared to make only one mistake. During the day both the medium and soft rear compound tires were used by the Yamaha. For the record, Pedrosa had delivered a 2’00.100 lap time earlier in the month. Crutchlow was more frustrated and did not improve his best lap time on Thursday, complaining that he and Monster Yamaha Tech 3 had no new components to scrutinize.
The test saw teams combining long, race simulation stints -- which came on Thursday -- with shorter bursts which served both as qualifying models and, for some, new component development. Márquez continued to impress, with the Honda rookie and current Moto2 title holder managing third place overall while continuing to adapt to the Bridgestone tires and suspension settings.
Valentino Rossi had aimed to match teammate Lorenzo’s race pace upon his high-profile return to Yamaha. At times he appeared somewhat agitated in his garage, as the seven-time premier class champion finished fifth overall from the GO&FUN Honda Gresini of Álvaro Bautista and LCR Honda MotoGP of Stefan Bradl. Bautista managed his sole long run on Thursday afternoon, although at the time there was apprehension as yet more rain was forecast to hit Sepang. German Bradl proved to be one to watch on the final day, ending proceedings in seventh position but having placed fourth for much of the day.
The top ten was completed by Crutchlow’s teammate Bradley Smith, who has impressed across the three days while focusing on his general riding style and braking technique in particular; the Oxford man suffered a small incident on Tuesday but, like all fallers during the test, walked away unharmed.
Ducati Team continued to make progress, beginning the week with new fuel tanks. On the final day, no long runs took place but instead a continuation of evaluating general settings and bike setups. Andrea Dovizioso left the pits on an all-black liveried new chassis and ended the day with much-improved pace – four tenths up on teammate Nicky Hayden and the greatly reduced margin of one second off the leading pace. For most of the laps available, not least on Days 1 and 2, test rider Michele Pirro – who crashed just before today’s mid-day point - had himself racked up mileage with a new chassis.
As with the previous Sepang gathering of three weeks earlier, the weather played a part as rain rooted riders to their garages at some points. The same could be said for Thursday morning, when more typically heavy showers overnight resulted in a saturated track and effectively wiped out the first 90 minutes of running time.
Today it was Pedrosa atop the timesheets with a personal best of 2’00.562, meaning he has led five of the six pre-season days in Malaysia this year. The best overall tour was an impressive one from Lorenzo, with the Mallorcan managing to dip under the official lap record with his endeavor of 2’00.282 during a three-lap run on Wednesday. On the final day he had hoped for a long run and managed a particularly consistent 20-lap stint in which he appeared to make only one mistake. During the day both the medium and soft rear compound tires were used by the Yamaha. For the record, Pedrosa had delivered a 2’00.100 lap time earlier in the month. Crutchlow was more frustrated and did not improve his best lap time on Thursday, complaining that he and Monster Yamaha Tech 3 had no new components to scrutinize.
The test saw teams combining long, race simulation stints -- which came on Thursday -- with shorter bursts which served both as qualifying models and, for some, new component development. Márquez continued to impress, with the Honda rookie and current Moto2 title holder managing third place overall while continuing to adapt to the Bridgestone tires and suspension settings.
Valentino Rossi had aimed to match teammate Lorenzo’s race pace upon his high-profile return to Yamaha. At times he appeared somewhat agitated in his garage, as the seven-time premier class champion finished fifth overall from the GO&FUN Honda Gresini of Álvaro Bautista and LCR Honda MotoGP of Stefan Bradl. Bautista managed his sole long run on Thursday afternoon, although at the time there was apprehension as yet more rain was forecast to hit Sepang. German Bradl proved to be one to watch on the final day, ending proceedings in seventh position but having placed fourth for much of the day.
The top ten was completed by Crutchlow’s teammate Bradley Smith, who has impressed across the three days while focusing on his general riding style and braking technique in particular; the Oxford man suffered a small incident on Tuesday but, like all fallers during the test, walked away unharmed.
Ducati Team continued to make progress, beginning the week with new fuel tanks. On the final day, no long runs took place but instead a continuation of evaluating general settings and bike setups. Andrea Dovizioso left the pits on an all-black liveried new chassis and ended the day with much-improved pace – four tenths up on teammate Nicky Hayden and the greatly reduced margin of one second off the leading pace. For most of the laps available, not least on Days 1 and 2, test rider Michele Pirro – who crashed just before today’s mid-day point - had himself racked up mileage with a new chassis.
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