Autosport.com wrote:Jorge Lorenzo fastest on final day of MotoGP test at Sepang
By Mitchell Adam Wednesday, February 3rd 2016, 10:23 GMT
Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo blitzed the final day of MotoGP's opening pre-season test at Sepang, as Casey Stoner starred for Ducati.
Reigning world champion Lorenzo topped the first day of the three-day test on Monday, and after setting the second-fastest time on Tuesday reasserted his dominance on Wednesday.
With one hour remaining, Lorenzo was 0.540 seconds clear of team-mate Valentino Rossi with a 2m00.016s effort, but there was more to come.
Lorenzo improved to 1m59.966s, the week's first lap beneath the two-minute barrier, and then underlined his dominance when he logged a 1m59.595s with 15 minutes remaining.
For good measure, he then recorded a 1m59.580s lap inside the final 90 seconds.
The lap was quicker than Lorenzo's fastest time during last October's Malaysian Grand Prix at the circuit, and just over half a second off Dani Pedrosa's pole lap, as the field was confined to Michelin's hard compound following Loris Baz's Tuesday crash.
More importantly, Lorenzo's time was 0.976s clear of Rossi, who did not improve in the afternoon after a rain shower interrupted running, while the first 90 minutes were also lost to inclement weather.
Honda's Marc Marquez slotted into third in the closing stages, but finished the day 1.303s behind Lorenzo.
LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow was another late improver and finished the day a strong fourth, while Marquez's team-mate Dani Pedrosa was sixth.
Between them was Stoner.
The two-time world champion shared the track with the MotoGP field for the first time since 2012 on Tuesday, and continued that programme on the final day.
Riding Ducati's 2015 machine, Stoner set his lap of 2m01.096s on his first run, to go second at the time, and he finished the day fifth.
Tuesday pacesetter Danilo Petrucci was seventh, ahead of factory Ducati rider Andrea Iannone.
The Italian crashed early on his 2015 Ducati, before setting his fastest time on the 2016 Desmosedici, with team-mate Andrea Dovizioso 13th.
Scott Redding and Maverick Vinales completed the top 10, ahead of Hector Barbera and Aleix Espargaro.
Tech 3 Yamaha rider Bradley Smith was the busiest man of the day, logging 65 laps on his way to 16th, including a mammoth stint late in the day.
After sitting out Tuesday's running following his crash on Monday, Eugene Laverty returned to action and was 22nd fastest.
Phillip Island will host the next test on February 17-19.
Code: Select all
Pos Rider Team Bike Gap Laps
1 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Yamaha 1m59.580s 36
2 Valentino Rossi Yamaha Yamaha 0.976s 38
3 Marc Marquez Honda Honda 1.303s 45
4 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda 1.412s 42
5 Casey Stoner Ducati Ducati 1.490s 30
6 Daniel Pedrosa Honda Honda 1.581s 48
7 Danilo Petrucci Pramac Racing Ducati 1.637s 18
8 Andrea Iannone Ducati Ducati 1.643s 38
9 Scott Redding Pramac Racing Ducati 1.649s 42
10 Maverick Vinales Suzuki Suzuki 1.664s 51
11 Hector Barbera Avintia Racing Ducati 1.854s 30
12 Aleix Espargaro Suzuki Suzuki 2.043s 44
13 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati Ducati 2.095s 34
14 Yonny Hernandez Aspar Ducati 2.194s 40
15 Pol Espargaro Tech 3 Yamaha 2.290s 44
16 Bradley Smith Tech 3 Yamaha 2.338s 65
17 Loris Baz Avintia Racing Ducati 2.961s 33
18 Stefan Bradl Aprilia Gresini Aprilia 3.212s 44
19 Katsuyuki Nakasuga Yamaha Yamaha 3.360s 27
20 Esteve Rabat Marc VDS Honda 3.432s 57
21 Alvaro Bautista Aprilia Gresini Aprilia 3.603s 46
22 Eugene Laverty Aspar Ducati 3.939s 25
