As the second day of MotoGP™ testing got underway in Sepang it was the Repsol Honda and Yamaha foursome that continued to top the timesheet at the mid-way point, although the gap to the rest of the field is narrowing.

Repsol Honda Team’s Dani Pedrosa continued where he let off yesterday as he was top at the 2pm local time mark with a 2.00’549, as he continued to test parts for engine durability, whilst Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo was close on his tail with his new chassis and engine upgrades by just 0.019s. Pedrosa’s teammate Marc Márquez continued to impress in third just over two tenths off the pace, followed by a similar margin by Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi, who is also putting in consistent times as he get’s reacquainted with the M1.

Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow has looked impressive so far as he put his 2012 spec M1 closely behind Rossi in fifth, with LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl in tow, who continued work on his near factory spec RC213V. Go & Fun Honda Gresini’s Álvaro Bautista’s Showa suspension work is still on going, as the Spaniard placed seventh at the half-way point, ahead of a rapidly improving rookie Bradley Smith on his Tech 3 Yamaha.

The Ducati Team will be relieved that yesterday’s pace was no true indication of their form, as the duo of Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso were much improved in ninth and tenth place respectively, now just over 1.5s off the front. This morning they managed to displace HRC test rider Kosuke Akiyoshi and Yamaha test rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga to the spots behind them, with a vastly improving Pramac Racing’s Ben Spies in tow. After a short run yesterday and shoulder trouble, the Texan had already lapped more this morning with 27 laps than his total yesterday.

His teammate Andrea Iannone was just over a tenth off, one place behind Yamaha test rider Wataru Yoshikawa, with the Power Electronics Aspar duo in tow, which are both working with a new chassis and swingarm. Avintia Blusens’ Hiroshi Aoyama’s wrist was not looking too problematic as the Japanese rider improved over yesterday to 18th place, followed by Came IodaRacing Project’s Danilo Petrucci, Avintia’s Héctor Barberá, Cardion AB Motoracing’s Karel Abraham and HRC test rider Takumi Takahashi.

Paul Bird Motorsport’s Michael Laverty showed great improvement as he outpaced teammate Yonny Hernandez, with both finishing ahead of NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Claudio Corti and Colin Edwards. Go & Fun Honda Gresini’s Bryan Staring rounded out the field on his FTR-Honda machine.

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