Yamaha wraps up Sepang in challenging weather conditions

Yamaha Factory Racing today completed an exhaustive three days of testing at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia, the second official IRTA test at the track. Wet weather at the start of the day followed by a drying track and extreme heat temperatures delivered challenging conditions for riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi. Despite the heat, Lorenzo used the final day to complete a long race simulation, gathering valuable data for the engineers. The reigning MotoGP World Champion recorded the fastest wet time in the morning, signing off the final test day in third position with 2’00.992 seconds, 0.43 from first. Lorenzo recorded the fastest lap time of the test overall with yesterday’s blistering 2’00.282 seconds.

Team mate Rossi opted to spend the remaining day continuing work on bike set up, the Italian still looking for the optimum mix of traction and balance on the YZR-M1, especially as tyre wear increases. The Italian wrapped up his second Sepang test in fourth position, just 0.07 seconds behind his teammate.

Jorge Lorenzo - Laps 56, Time - 2'00.992 “The practice was wet at the beginning of the day so we exited and tried the bike on the wet. It wasn't bad, I made the fastest wet time but when the track became dryer it was never the same as yesterday. It was much more slippery and so harder to equal yesterday’s time. We made a complete simulation, it was a little worse than I expected because we had some problems with the front tyre in braking; it didn't give me much confidence so I slowed my pace a little. The conditions were extreme this time so it was harder to equal the simulation we made in the first Sepang test.”

Valentino Rossi - Laps 61, Time - 2'01.062 “This test at the end is positive because we are in fourth place and not so far from the front. We are struggling a little more than the first test though; we were unlucky and suffered a little electrical problem that lost us some time and some other little problems. We tried to improve our performance and we fixed some problems but not all. The balance is positive; we have had another three days with the bike, and ridden more kilometres to take the bike back to the top and closer to the limit. Now we are looking forward to Austin.”

Wilco Zeelenberg - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager “Sepang test two has come to an end and we are quite happy with the result, we tested everything we had to. We completed the long run today under very hot circumstances which was one of our aims because it is very difficult to keep the pace and know what can happen after ten or 11 laps here. We have a lot of data and I think we are getting to where we want to be. Of course the season hasn't started yet so we still hope to find more improvements.”

Massimo Meregalli - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director “It has been a successful test for us. In terms of speed, data and race pace for sure we are still missing some things but the direction is good and I think if we have to judge after first two tests the package is really good. Now we are looking to Austin, it is important to go there and get some valuable data so we can prepare for the race as best as possible. The riders and team have been extremely professional over the test, working hard through very hot and humid conditions.”

Yamaha