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Danilo Petrucci sets the pace early on day two at Sepang. Will the Octo Pramac Yachnich Ducati rider’s time on the softer-option tire be unbeatable if riders have to stay with the harder compound tire?

Octo Pramac Yachnich Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci topped the time sheets on day two of the MotoGP pre-season test at Sepang International Circuit. Petrucci’s 2:00.095 was set early on the softer-option tire before it was mandated to use the harder compound after Loris Baz’ rear-tire failure caused a crash on the front straight (see http://www.sportrider.com/loris-baz-survives-massive-crash-at-sepang-motogp-test).

The Italian was obviously happy with his top time, but he was also realistic.

“It’s nice to set the fastest lap time, although obviously it is not entirely representative,” Petrucci said. “In the afternoon I could not go fast as hoped and this remains an important goal that we will try to get tomorrow. Improvements? Yes, compared to Monday we have made progress. The confidence with the bike and the tires is growing and electronics is improving too. But we are still far from the top riders; tomorrow we’ll try to get closer. To end up the day in first place, however, gives much satisfaction.”

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Jorge Lorenzo improved his fast Monday time, but still fell short of Petrucci.

Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo did his best to stay on top of the class, but fell short by .06 of a second. The switch to the harder tire proved challenging to many, as the hot temperatures in the afternoon made for very little grip. There were a host of crashes, including the reigning champ himself, but Lorenzo found some satisfaction in being able to improve his fast time yesterday on the harder compound.

“Today, after Baz’s crash we couldn’t use the soft rear anymore, so I had to adapt my riding,” Lorenzo said. “It’s been a little bit difficult, but we still kept having a good feeling – apart from the crash that I had with the hot track temperature and the hard front, which looks to be a little bit worse for me. Even with the hard tire we could improve my time of yesterday by half a second, this is a good point. We keep having big margin over the rest and this is very encouraging.”

Baz’ teammate Hector Barbera put his Avintia Ducati in third ahead of Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez. Although Marquez was still looking for more progress, it was a much better day of testing for the two-time MotoGP Champion.

“Unfortunately during the day we didn’t manage to make steady progress and we tried out a lot of things, but we did make an improvement on yesterday,” Marquez said. “I think that it will be important to analyze well everything that we tested today, to see what works and what doesn’t, and tomorrow we will continue to try things because we have a lot of work to do.”

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Marc Marquez also improved on day two, finishing fourth on the time sheets.

LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow also improved his time on day two, as did sixth-place finisher Valentino Rossi. Unfortunately for Rossi it was not enough gains to close the gap on his teammate Lorenzo.

Petrucci’s teammate Scott Redding was seventh ahead of the factory Ducatis – Andrea Iannone and test rider Casey Stoner.

Stoner was happy to be on track with the series regulars and moved to within a second of Petrucci’s fast time on the harder compound.

“Being on track with everybody else, with the good track conditions, gave us better indications of what we are feeling in comparison,” Stoner said. “We had a lot of different things to test, but unfortunately after Baz’s crash we had to change tire compounds and retest everything. We went through a lot of the stack we had to do, and got some very positive input from the electronics, the engine braking, the clutch and in every aspect of the bike, together with a few things we can improve, and we gathered a lot of data to move forward from there.”

Rounding out the top 10 was Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Bradley Smith. The final day of testing resumes tomorrow.

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In just his second outing on the Ducati, Casey Stoner ended the day ninth, a second off of Petrucci’s fast time.

2016 MotoGP Sepang Test One Day One Results:

1. Danilo Petrucci (ITA) Octo Pramac Ducati 2:00.095

2. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Movistar Yamaha 2:00.155

3. Hector Barbera (SPA) Avintia Ducati 2:00.387

4. Marc Marquez (SPA) Repsol Honda 2:00.843

5. Cal Crutchlow (GBR) LCR Honda 2:00.899

6. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Movistar Yamaha 2:01.021

7. Scott Redding (GBR) Octo Pramac Ducati 2:01.049

8. Andrea Iannone (ITA) Ducati 2:01.052

9. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati 2:01.103

10. Bradley Smith (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2:01.107

11. Maverick Vinales (SPA) Team Ecstar Suzuki 2:01.421

12. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 2:01.475

13. Yonny Hernandez (COL) 2:01.644

14. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Ducati 2:01.723

15. Pol Espargaro (SPA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2:01.992

16. Aleix Espargaro (SPA) Team Suzuki Ecstar 2:02.092

17. Tito Rabat (SPA) 2:02.328

18. Stefan Bradl (GER) Aprilia 2:02.372

19. Loris Baz (FRA) Avintia Ducati 2:02.611

20. Katsuyuki Nakasuga (JPN) Yamaha Test Team 2:02.691

21. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Aprilia 2:02.876