Submitted by David Emmett on
Jorge Lorenzo ended the second and final day of the Aragon MotoGP test on top of the timesheets, getting well inside Casey Stoner's pole record from 2011, but still a quarter of a second slower than Dani Pedrosa's time from Tuesday. Pedrosa finished with the 2nd fastest time on Wednesday, ahead of LCR Honda's Stefan Bradl and the second factory Yamaha of Ben Spies. Jonathan Rea ended the day in 5th, but improved his time from Tuesday.
Lorenzo spent his day testing a new engine spec for use later in the season, and working on bike set up for the race at the circuit later this month. The Spaniard also ran a race simulation, checking tire wear on his Factory Yamaha YZR-M1. Teammate Ben Spies worked on set up and tire wear, the Texan having only some electronics and a new rear shock to test. In the Repsol Honda garage, Dani Pedrosa worked with a new exhaust aimed at improving power delivery, as well as a new shock to improve traction. Pedrosa's temporary teammate Jonathan Rea focused once again on adapting to riding a MotoGP bike, his biggest challenge still the tires. In the press release issued by Honda afterwards Rea said he needed to learn to trust the tires, an issue that every MotoGP rider faces on entering the class. Rea's times did improve, the Ulsterman taking six tenths off his time from Tuesday, promising more improvement as he rides the bike more. He now faces the challenge of switching his mindset back to the Pirellis, as he is due to race the Ten Kate Honda at the Nurburgring World Superbike round this weekend, before heading to Italy for next week's MotoGP round at Misano.
LCR Honda rider Stefan Bradl also made a big step forward on Wednesday, like Rea, cutting over half a second off his time from the first day. Bradl and his team found some improvements in set up to the bike, and the German also put more laps on the 2013-spec factory prototype, Honda looking for more input for their development process.
In Italy, testing was hit by rain, with Andrea Iannone and Michele Pirro not putting too many laps on the Ducati at Mugello, while Danilo Petrucci faced similar problems with the Suter BMW at the Vairano circuit.
Day 2 times:
Pos | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff | Prev. |
1 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | 1:48.244 | ||
2 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda | 1:48.499 | 0.255 | 0.255 |
3 | Stefan Bradl | Honda | 1:48.834 | 0.590 | 0.335 |
4 | Ben Spies | Yamaha | 1:48.946 | 0.702 | 0.112 |
5 | Jonathan Rea | Honda | 1:50.057 | 1.813 | 1.111 |
Overall times after both days of testing:
Pos | Rider | Bike | Day | Time | Diff | Prev. |
1 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda | Day 1 | 1:47.983 | ||
2 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | Day 2 | 1:48.244 | 0.261 | 0.261 |
3 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | Day 1 | 1:48.471 | 0.488 | 0.227 |
4 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda | Day 2 | 1:48.499 | 0.516 | 0.028 |
5 | Ben Spies | Yamaha | Day 1 | 1:48.647 | 0.664 | 0.148 |
1 | Stefan Bradl | Honda | Day 2 | 1:48.834 | 0.851 | 0.187 |
2 | Ben Spies | Yamaha | Day 2 | 1:48.946 | 0.963 | 0.112 |
3 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda (Bike 2) | Day 1 | 1:48.958 | 0.975 | 0.012 |
4 | Stefan Bradl | Honda | Day 1 | 1:49.570 | 1.587 | 0.612 |
5 | Jonathan Rea | Honda | Day 2 | 1:50.057 | 2.074 | 0.487 |
6 | Jonathan Rea | Honda | Day 1 | 1:50.679 | 2.696 | 0.622 |
Comments
Valentino
I don't know why but I have a feeling that Valentino will beat Jorge next year.
I don't agree
Jorge's consistent learning curve finally surpassed Rossi in '10. There's no guarantee in MotoGP but, all things considered, facts point to Jorge remaining top Yamaha. I give Rossi enormous credit though as his (now smaller) legacy will take an enormous beating if he doesn't consistently challenge Jorge next year.
OK
I know all the facts and I agree with you, but I just feel so.
Jorge is not only problem...
In 2013 there is another player. So called underdog.
Vale moving to Yamaha. Jorge strong as ever and Dani in overdrive...
Next year will be very very interesting.
LP
La hormiga
I think Marc Márquez will be good, very good!
Marquez
I bet he will be too. After he gets a feel for the new bike. He may become more of an issue than anyone is predicting.
You never know..
Dani was as good as Marc in 125 and 250. And he was one of the best ever in his first year in MotoGP... but then... the hell began. Marc is similar to Dani. I hope his bones are more resilient than the bones from Dani.
I am big fan of Dani. And I learned that talent is only part of the story in MotoGP. Dani crashed about as much as Stoner and Lorenzo. But injury rate was very different. That is the main reason why Dani has not scored championship.
I hope Marc is not as fragile.
LP