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The second day of Shakedown at Sepang was interrupted by a heavy downpour around 4.30pm, with an hour and a half to go. Torrential rain and strong winds forced the stewards to wave the red flag and bring a halt to testing. The situation improved around 5.30pm, but with the track very wet, only Lorenzo Savadori went out for a few laps.
The times did not improve and Pol Espargarò was able to obtain the satisfaction of finishing the day in 1st place thanks to a time of 1'58.241. Fabio Quartararo placed behind the Spaniard on the KTM. Yamaha, like Honda, is taking advantage of the new concessions that allow them to also use riders in the Shakedown. The Frenchman, with the 2024 version of the M1, was slower by around three tenths lapping in 1'58.524.
The real surprise today, however, is Pedro Acosta who on his third day of testing on the MotoGP bike stopped the clock with a time of 1'58.531, just 7 thousandths slower than Quartararo. Alex Rins had a promising start on the Yamaha, the Spanish rider ending the day in 4th place ahead of Dani Pedrosa, the last of the riders to dip under 1'59.
At Honda, the best time was that of Joan Mir, 6th in 1'59.087, slightly slower than him (only 4 thousandths) was Johann Zarco, who is getting to grips with the RC213V after a number of years with Ducati. Luca Marini is not far from his teammates (just over a tenth behind Mir) and finished 8th ahead of Takaaki Nakagami.
The battle between the test riders was won by Stefan Bradl, who set the 10th fastest time ahead of Cal Crutchlow, Michele Pirro and Lorenzo Savadori. The last day of Shakedown is tomorrow, while the official tests will begin on Tuesday.
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