Morbidelli leads Quartararo on Day 2 of Sepang MotoGP test

VR46’s new recruit Franco Morbidelli set the tempo on the second day of the Sepang MotoGP check, main Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo.

Driving final yr’s Ducati GP24, Morbidelli posted a finest time of 1m57.210s simply an hour into the day’s working to climb to the highest spot within the rankings.

His lap was three tenths faster than what Quartararo managed on Wednesday, and would have been ok to safe a front-row spot for final yr’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

With nearly all of the sector switching to longer runs because the temperature rose in Malaysia, Morbidelli’s early effort wasn’t overwhelmed by the point the clock ran out at 6pm.

Morbidelli’s former crew Yamaha continued to look robust on the Sepang Worldwide Circuit, with 2021 champion Quartararo ending only a tenth behind in second, having additionally set his finest time early within the morning.

Quartararo was adopted by the Gresini duo of Alex Marquez and Fermin Aldeguer, with the latter once more ending because the quickest of the three rookies.

Whereas enhancements have been few and much in the course of the afternoon session, partly because of some drizzle with two hours remaining, Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia was in a position to climb as much as fifth with a 1m57.652s flier within the ultimate half-hour.

Bagnaia was one of many few riders to undergo a crash on Thursday, having low-sided at Flip 15 within the second hour.

Honda’s Joan Mir was one other rider to make a late enchancment, leaping to sixth when with a time of 1m57.791s.

That pushed KTM’s prime runner Pedro Acosta all the way down to seventh, with Pramac Yamaha’s Miguel Olivera categorised in eighth.

New manufacturing unit Aprilia rider Marco Bezzecchi was ninth and the final of the riders to interrupt the 1m58s barrier, the Italian enhancing to 1m57.995s late within the day. Jack Miller rounded out a powerful day for Pramac and Yamaha in tenth.

Six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez had a low-key day at Sepang as he completed 14th with a time that was 1.2s off the tempo set by Morbidelli.

Marc Marquez, Ducati Staff

Photograph by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Photos

Reigning champion Jorge Martin, Raul Fernandez and Fabio di Giannantonio all missed the second day of the Sepang check, as they returned to Europe to endure surgical procedures after being concerned in separate accidents on Wednesday.

To keep away from dropping invaluable monitor time, Aprilia and Ducati known as on their check riders Lorenzo Savadori and Michele Pirro, each serving to their respective producers collect needed knowledge on their new bikes.