Jorge Lorenzo beats lap record to top Sepang MotoGP test

Listen to this article

Lorenzo surpassed the previous best MotoGP time at Sepang, set by Honda's Marc Marquez during winter testing in 2015, by 0.037s.

The Maverick Vinales laptime that stood as the best effort from the opening two days did not remain the benchmark for long on Tuesday, bettered by a 1m59.186s from Lorenzo just half an hour into the session.

The Ducati rider was himself overhauled by Honda's Dani Pedrosa a couple of minutes later, but returned to the top spot after another hour.

Lorenzo's record-breaking 1m58.830s kept him top for the remaining six hours, as premier class riders wrapped up their test programmes by focusing on long runs.

Pedrosa ended the day second, with LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow making up the top three.

Lorenzo's teammate Andrea Dovizioso was fourth, his day disrupted by a crash at Turn 1 early in the session.

Pramac privateer Jack Miller wrapped up his Tuesday running early, but still ended the day as the third Ducati in the top five, while Alex Rins wound up the top Suzuki, 0.002s behind the Aussie.

Reigning champion Marquez took seventh ahead of Yamaha's Valentino Rossi, who was among the few riders to improve in the closing minutes of the test. Rossi's teammate Vinales ended the day in 18th place.

Tech 3 Yamaha's Johann Zarco finished ninth despite an early tumble, while Pramac's Danilo Petrucci put Avintia Ducati newcomer Tito Rabat – who crashed twice during the day – out of the top 10 at the chequered flag.

With Pol Espargaro sitting out the day after his big crash on Monday, test rider Mika Kallio led the way for KTM instead, placing 16th.

Session results

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Jorge Lorenzo	Ducati	1:58.830		48
2	Dani Pedrosa	Honda	1:59.009	0.179	58
3	Cal Crutchlow	Honda	1:59.052	0.222	65
4	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	1:59.169	0.339	51
5	Jack Miller	Ducati	1:59.346	0.516	36
6	Alex Rins	Suzuki	1:59.348	0.518	52
7	Marc Marquez	Honda	1:59.382	0.552	75
8	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	1:59.449	0.619	54
9	Johann Zarco	Yamaha	1:59.511	0.681	55
10	Danilo Petrucci	Ducati	1:59.528	0.698	49
11	Tito Rabat	Ducati	1:59.547	0.717	35
12	Andrea Iannone	Suzuki	1:59.615	0.785	62
13	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	1:59.962	1.132	52
14	Takaaki Nakagami	Honda	2:00.071	1.241	54
15	Alvaro Bautista	Ducati	2:00.205	1.375	57
16	Mika Kallio	KTM	2:00.464	1.634	64
17	Franco Morbidelli	Honda	2:00.526	1.696	55
18	Maverick Vinales	Yamaha	2:00.547	1.717	71
19	Karel Abraham	Ducati	2:00.574	1.744	48
20	Xavier Simeon	Ducati	2:00.784	1.954	30
21	Scott Redding	Aprilia	2:00.812	1.982	56
22	Bradley Smith	KTM	2:00.969	2.139	77
23	Sylvain Guintoli	Suzuki	2:01.120	2.29	58
24	Tom Luthi	Honda	2:01.126	2.296	52
25	Yonny Hernandez	Yamaha	2:01.223	2.393	31
26	Test bike	Yamaha	2:01.385	2.555	17
27	Test bike	Yamaha	2:01.679	2.849	30