MotoGP: Bastianini dominates the times of the second day of pre-season testing News

Italian rider Enea Bastianini, on his official Ducati, finished at the top of the times on the second day of pre-season testing at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia on Wednesday.

The reigning world champion's teammate Francesco Bagnaia improved his time from the day before by more than a second, completing his best lap in 1 min 57 sec and 134/1000 and establishing a new Malaysian circuit record in the process - unofficial because established outside the Grand Prix.

The Spaniard Jorge Martin (Ducati-Pramac), first on Tuesday, ranks second and the South African Brad Binder (KTM) takes third place at the end of eight hours of riding this day of testing.

The double Italian world champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), whom his team still hopes to extend before the first Grand Prix in Qatar at the beginning of March, managed the 5th time, almost half a second from his compatriot and teammate in red.

The six-time Spanish MotoGP world champion, Marc Marquez, eagerly awaited on the handlebars of his Ducati-Gresini, settled for 14th place, completing 72 laps (the most of the day) on the handlebars of his new mount.

By his own admission to the Motogp.com site, he “preferred to sacrifice the time” to favor long series over “searching for settings to be less stiff on the bike”.

The pace improved significantly on the second day of testing for the entire paddock, as proof the newcomer in the category, the surprising Spaniard Pedro Acosta (Gasgas-Tech3), only finished 8th although he did half a second better than his time the day before. The final day of pre-season testing will take place on Thursday, still on the more than 5 km Sepang track in Malaysia, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. local time.

Rankings from the second day of pre-season testing which took place on Wednesday at the Sepang circuit (5.54 km) in Malaysia:

1. Enea Bastianini (ITA/Ducati) 1:57.134

2. Jorge Martin (ESP/Ducati-Pramac) at 0.139

3. Brad Binder (RSA/KTM) at 0.193

4. Aleix Espargaro (ESP/Aprilia) 0.312

5. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Ducati) 0.335

6. Fabio Di Giannantonio (ITA/Ducati-VR46) 0.485

7. Alex Marquez (ESP/Ducati-Gresini) 0.538

8. Pedro Acosta (ESP/Gasgas-Tech3) 0.592

9. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA/Ducati-VR46) 0.733

10. Joan Mir (ESP/Honda) 0.738

11. Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha) 0.754