New Suzuki signing Andrea Iannone led the way on day two of the first official MotoGP test of the 2017 season at the Sepang International circuit on Tuesday, finishing almost half a second ahead of the man he replaced, Maverick Vinales, who is now flying Yamaha colours instead. \
Rain was a huge factor in days two’s activities with taction halted for quite some time throughout the day as teams and riders waitd for the conditions to improve.
“It’s been a nice day, hasn’t it? Despite having a delay at the start due to the track conditions, we got only few hours left to test, but we could make another important day,” said Suzuki’s team manager, David Brivio. “We have tested many things that proved to be effective, and Andrea did a very good job, an incredible time. Of course we still need to work a lot but I’m happy for this time; although it’s only one single lap we have stayed in the front for the whole session.”
“Most importantly, this time is the proof that there is already a good feeling between Andrea and the machine, this means that when the moment to push will come he will be already able to do it. Now we have to work on many aspects to prepare consistency for the race, so we need to work on tyres, suspension, electronics, many things. But this a good sign.”
The second Suzuki of Alex Rins was down in 13th overall, but the team were still happy with his progress…
“ Alex as well made very positive progresses, he has already gone under 2’00 and he is improving more and more, he feels the machine more and more and at the end he enjoys riding more and more. Today we could test more in depth the new specs of the engine, making comparisons with the old one, and also tried a new front fork that Ohlins provided, and especially Andrea proved to appreciate it.”
Valentino Rossi fared a little stronger on day two with a fourth placed finish while the two Ducati’s of Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo were seventh and eitht.
The test concludes here today.
Times from Day two:
- IANNONE, Andrea – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – 1:59.452
2. VIÑALES, Maverick – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – 1:59.858 +0.406
3. BAUTISTA, Alvaro – Pull&Bear Aspar Team – 2:00.218 +0.766
4. ROSSI, Valentino – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – 2:00.254 +0.802
5. ZARCO, Johann – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – 2:00.343 +0.891
6. BARBERA, Hector – Avintia Racing – 2:00.351 +0.899
7. DOVIZIOSO, Andrea – Ducati Team – 2:00.441 +0.989
8. LORENZO, Jorge – Ducati Team – 2:00.484 +1.032
9. FOLGER, Jonas – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – 2:00.495 +1.043
10. MARQUEZ, Marc – Repsol Honda Team – 2:00.531 +1.079
11. ESPARGARO, Aleix – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – 2:00.609 +1.157
12. CRUTCHLOW, Cal – LCR Honda – 2:00.692 +1.240
13. RINS, Alex – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – 2:00.877 +1.425
14. PEDROSA, Dani – Repsol Honda Team – 2:00.886 +1.434
15. REDDING, Scott – Octo Pramac Racing – 2:00.972 +1.520
16. ABRAHAM, Karel – Pull&Bear Aspar Team – 2:00.981 +1.529
17. PETRUCCI, Danilo – Octo Pramac Racing – 2:01.124 +1.672
18. BAZ, Loris – Avintia Racing – 2:01.227 +1.775
19. PIRRO, Michele – Ducati Test Team – 2:01.383 +1.931
20. ESPARGARO, Pol – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – 2:01.525 +2.073
21. MILLER, Jack – Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS – 2:01.557 +2.105
22. LOWES, Sam – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – 2:02.058 +2.606
23. RABAT, Tito – Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS – 2:02.190 +2.738
24. TSUDA, Takuya – Suzuki Test Team – 2:02.266 +2.814
25. SMITH, Bradley – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – 2:02.517 +3.065
26. NAKASUGA, Katsuyuki – Yamaha Factory Racing – 2:02.893 +3.441
27. NOZANE, Kohta - Yamaha Factory Racing – 2:03.052 +3.600
