Quartararo tops MotoGP test in Sepang - Speedcafe

Fabio Quartararo pic: MotoGP

Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo has topped the second day of MotoGP testing in Sepang ahead of Jack Miller.

Third fastest for the day went to Dani Pedrosa aboard a KTM, whose best was less than a tenth away from Quartararo’s.

Aboard a new Yamaha, Quartararo promptly set a 1:58.572 to follow on from his pace set the day prior, with team-mate Franco Morbidelli a quarter of a second down on an ‘A-spec’ 2020 machine, though reportedly without the new engine and air intake.

Morbidelli also fell during the course of the day, dropping his M1 at Turn 2 but was unharmed.

Miller had been fastest midway through the day, recording 50 laps and ending up just 0.069s away from top spot.

His fellow Ducati runners, Danilo Petrucci, Franceso Bagnaia, and Andrea Dovizioso could do no better than 13th, 14th, and 15th respectively.

Dovizioso triggered a brief red flag when he tumbled at Turn 6, the interruption to confirm the Italian was away from the track and racing line.

Supporting Pedrosa’s KTM pace was Pol Espargaro in eighth, recording nearly 50 laps despite an off at Turn 1.

His day was spent testing a new chassis with different set-ups, finding improvements in both grip and stability.

A late effort from Joan Mir saw the Suzuki rider end proceedings fourth fastest, his 1:58.731 putting him little more than a tenth off the ultimate pace.

Marc Marquez was the fastest factory Honda rider but only ninth fastest after a fall at Turn 3, and while the Spaniard was unscathed the same could not be said of his bike.

Track action at Sepang continues with ‘Sunday Funday’, the final day of testing before teams pack up and head to Qatar for the second pre-season test on February 22-24.

Pos	Num	Rider	Team	Bike	Time	Gap 1st/prev	Laps
1	20	Fabio QUARTARARO	Petronas Yamaha SRT	YAMAHA	1:58.572		63/72
2	43	Jack MILLER	Pramac Racing	DUCATI	1:58.641	0.069/0.069	15/51
3	26	Dani PEDROSA	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	1:58.662	0.09/0.021	53/54
4	36	Joan MIR	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	SUZUKI	1:58.731	0.159/0.069	11/54
5	21	Franco MORBIDELLI	Petronas Yamaha SRT	YAMAHA	1:58.831	0.259/0.1	37/60
6	12	Maverick VIÑALES	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	YAMAHA	1:58.893	0.321/0.062	41/69
7	42	Alex RINS	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	SUZUKI	1:58.978	0.406/0.085	25/63
8	44	Pol ESPARGARO	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	1:58.989	0.417/0.011	3/49
9	93	Marc MARQUEZ	Repsol Honda Team	HONDA	1:59.097	0.525/0.108	10/47
10	46	Valentino ROSSI	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	YAMAHA	1:59.116	0.544/0.019	38/60
11	41	Aleix ESPARGARO	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	APRILIA	1:59.224	0.652/0.108	26/43
12	35	Cal CRUTCHLOW	LCR Honda CASTROL	HONDA	1:59.247	0.675/0.023	59/64
13	9	Danilo PETRUCCI	Ducati Team	DUCATI	1:59.257	0.685/0.01	7/59
14	63	Francesco BAGNAIA	Pramac Racing	DUCATI	1:59.313	0.741/0.056	11/59
15	4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	Ducati Team	DUCATI	1:59.342	0.77/0.029	16/55
16	88	Miguel OLIVEIRA	Red Bull KTM Tech 3	KTM	1:59.365	0.793/0.023	10/42
17	73	Alex MARQUEZ	Repsol Honda Team	HONDA	1:59.661	1.089/0.296	11/66
18	33	Brad BINDER	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	1:59.780	1.208/0.119	38/59
19	5	Johann ZARCO	Reale Avintia Racing	DUCATI	1:59.825	1.253/0.045	16/51
20	53	Tito RABAT	Reale Avintia Racing	DUCATI	2:00.189	1.617/0.364	77/77
21	50	Sylvain GUINTOLI	SUZUKI Test Team	SUZUKI	2:00.286	1.714/0.097	3/58
22	30	Takaaki NAKAGAMI	LCR Honda IDEMITSU	HONDA	2:00.347	1.775/0.061	16/47
23	27	Iker LECUONA	Red Bull KTM Tech 3	KTM	2:00.396	1.824/0.049	12/41
24	92	Yamaha TEST 3	Yamaha Test Team	YAMAHA	2:00.791	2.219/0.395	23/35
25	90	Yamaha TEST 1	Yamaha Test Team	YAMAHA	2:00.920	2.348/0.129	20/44
26	38	Bradley SMITH	Aprilia Factory Racing	APRILIA	2:01.119	2.547/0.199	19/61