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Lorenzo beats lap record to top Sepang test

Ducati MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo ended the three-day pre-season test in Sepang quickest, setting a new unofficial lap record in the process.

Jorge Lorenzo, Ducati Team

Jorge Lorenzo, Ducati Team

Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Jorge Lorenzo, Ducati Team
Jorge Lorenzo, Ducati Team
Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team
Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team
Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Valentino Rossi, Yamaha Factory Racing

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

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