Enea Bastianini (Ducati Desmosedici GP21) smashed the record at the Malaysian Sepang circuit on the second and final day of pre-season testing for the riders participating in the MotoGP world championship before rain forced the day to end.
Bastianini He rolled in 1:58.131 to beat the Spanish Aleix Espargaro, who before him (1:58.157) had already broken the fastest lap record achieved by the Frenchman fabio quartararo in 2019 when shooting in 1:58.303.
Before the intense rain that fell on the Malaysian track put an end to the work of all the MotoGP teams, numerous events took place and all of them at a frantic pace and in a very narrow margin.
The first thirteen riders were within a margin of less than half a second, which should not be too strange in the Moto3 category, but it is very decisive with the powerful MotoGP bikes.
If you take into account that the top six classified rolled below the record that in 2019 starred Quartararo, this gives a clear image of the strong pace carried out by practically all the riders in the category, since among the first eleven there was not even three tenths of a second apart and there were barely two tenths between the first, Enea Bastianini and the eighth, none other than the eight-time world champion, Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda RC 213 V), which completed 39 laps.
All riders, except for the Japanese Yamaha tester, Takuya Tsuda, ended up running under two minutes on the 5,543-meter long Malaysian circuit.
Knowing that the weather could ruin the practice schedule, practically all the drivers went out quickly to roll on soft tires in a clear attempt to see the real level of both oneself and their competitors and although there is still a lot of work to be done ahead it was possible to verify that the evolution in practically all the factories has been remarkable.
Perhaps the one that stands out the most is the Italian Aprilia, and that is that the Noale engineers seem to have managed to take an important step forward with their completely new prototype, by managing to be the fastest in the “shakedown” at the beginning of the week and ratifying that evolution in these training sessions, in which both Aleix Espargaro What Maverick Vinales they have consistently managed to be among the fastest in the category.
To the second fastest record of Aleix Espargaro you have to join the fifth square of Maverick Vinales, just 130 thousandths of a second slower than Enea Bastianini.
The performance, in general, of the Ducati riders was also different because if “The Beast” Bastianini The first day was already among the best, the “official” pilots of Borgo Panigale It cost them a lot more, but already on this second day the Italian Francesco “Pecco” bagnaia He finished in sixth position, just ahead of the reigning world champion, the Frenchman fabio quartararo (Yamaha YZR M1).
Meanwhile, his teammate, the Australian Jack Miller, had to settle for fourteenth position and that he finished barely five tenths of a second behind Bastianini.
Up to four Ducati, which will have eight prototypes in the category in this 2022 season, finished in the top ten and, in addition to “The Beast”, the Spanish did it George Martin, third, “Pecco” bagnaia, sixth and Johann Zarco in ninth place.
The progression achieved by the Suzuki engineers seems to be quite pleasing to alex rins, who signed the fourth fastest time with a difference of 130 thousandths of a second with respect to the leader of the day and author of the new circuit record.
Rins he shot in 1:58.261, the same time, to the thousandth of a second, that he “signed” Maverick Vinales to be fifth ahead of”Pecco“ bagnaia, who was just four thousandths of a second slower than the new Aprilia rider.
Those who seem to have made the least progress in this preseason, although it is still early to draw definitive conclusions, are KTM and Yamaha, who once again have the best possible stronghold in their world champion.
Quartararo He finished in seventh position, 182 thousandths of a second behind. Bastianini, just ahead of a Mark Marquez who needs kilometers to recover the rhythm of the competition, but who has always been very satisfied with his practically new Repsol Honda RC 213 V.
The Repsol Honda champion finished in eighth position, notably improving his performance compared to the first day and barely two tenths of a second from Enea Bastianini and with his teammate Pol Espargaro tenth.
For KTM his best representative was the Portuguese Miguel Oliveira in a discreet fifteenth position, with the South African Brad Binder eighteenth.
The Italian Luca Marina with Ducati he was eleventh, ahead of the 2020 world champion, the Spaniard Joan Mir (Suzuki GSX RR), with the Japanese Takaaki Nakagami (Honda RC 213 V) and the Australian Jack Miller (Ducati Desmosedici GP22), behind them.
Alex Marquez (Honda RC 213 V) occupied the seventeenth position, with the rookie Raul Fernandez (KTM RC 16) nineteenth.