The second day of MotoGP testing at Valencia was led by none other than the new World Champion, Marc Marquez.
After sitting out the first day, the Repsol Honda team was back in action bright and early this morning, and feeling no ill effects from all the celebrations, as Marquez took just 11 laps to post a 1’30″679 and better Jorge Lorenzo’s best time from yesterday.
During the afternoon session Marquez worked on the development of the Honda RC213V 2014 version and as usual took the machine a little over the limit as he almost crashed at the Angel Nieto corner, but fate was still smiling on him as he managed to save it with his elbow and knee.
He then further lowered his lap time with a scorching flyer in 1’30.
536, which was just three tenths of second slower than his qualifying lap that earned him his 9th pole position of the 2013 season.
Team mate Dani Pedrosa also tested the 2014 version of the bike and he was third fastest, behind Jorge Lorenzo, who ended up in an almost qualifying session against his arch rival Marquez in the closing stages of the afternoon session as he bettered his Monday’s best lap time using the 2014 M1.
Unfortunately Valentino Rossi was unable to improve on the second day of testing, even with his new crew chief Silvano Galbusera.
He ended up 7th and almost nine tenths adrift from top of the charts behind not only Honda’s Stefan Bradl and Alvaro Bautista, but also behind Yamaha satellite Tech3 rider Bradley Smith – testing a 2014 chassis with a 2013 engine – as he also returned to track after sitting out yesterday.
There was the usual gaggle of Ducati’s from the 8th to the 14th position with MotoGP rookie Pol Espargaro inserting himself in 9th with his Yamaha Tech3 M1.
Cal Crutchlow dropped to 11th after his promising debut with D16 behind Andrea Dovizioso (8th) and Pramac’s Andrea Iannone (10th) while Yonny Hernandez was 14th on the ‘open’ version of the GP13.
The Ducati riders will have to wait until the Sepang test in February before seeing their 2014 machines.
Nicky Hayden finally got his chance to ride the RCV1000R (24 liters of fuel, 12 engines per season an the Magneti Marelli spec ECU) and he was two seconds off pace, but still better than Forward Racing’s Aleix Espargaro and Colin Edwards who are testing the Yamaha-FTR for the first time.
Scott Redding was able to complete only 23 laps with his left wrist still acting up and Hiroshi Aoyama should be taking up his testing duties, while Randy de Puniet got a shot at testing the PBM ART machine.
The afternoon session was briefly red flagged after Michael Laverty crashed out at turn 3.
Wednesday will be third and final day of testing at Valencia, but without the Yamaha Factory team who has already completed their testing program.
2013 MotoGP Valencia Day 2 test results:01- Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – 1’30.
536 (77 laps) 02- Jorge Lorenzo – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.
232 (60) 03- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 0.
412 (72) 04- Stefan Bradl – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC213V – + 0.
454 (60) 05- Alvaro Bautista – GO&FUN Honda Gresini – Honda RC213V – + 0.
672 (72) 06- Bradley Smith – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.
861 (78) 07- Valentino Rossi – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.
878 (57) 08- Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 1.
125 (62) 09- Pol Espargaro – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1.
300 (72) 10- Andrea Iannone – Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 1.
308 (68) 11- Cal Crutchlow – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 1.
578 (53) 12- Michele Pirro – Ducati Test Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 1.
937 (65) 13- Nicky Hayden – Power Electronics Aspar – Honda RCV1000R – 2.
040 (76) 14- Yonny Hernandez – Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 2.
264 (27) 15- Aleix Espargaro – NGM Mobile Forward Racing – FTR Yamaha – + 2.
311 (18) 16- Colin Edwards – NGM Mobile Forward Racing – FTR Yamaha – + 2.
613 (34) 17- Michael Laverty – Paul Bird Motorsport – ART GP13 – + 3.
136 (43) 18- Randy De Puniet – Paul Bird Motorsport – ART GP13 – + 3.
297 (37) 19- Scott Redding – GO&FUN Honda Gresini – Honda RCV1000R – + 4.
005 (23) 20- Mike Di Meglio – Avintia Blusens – FTR Kawasaki – + 4.
082 (42)