Lorenzo, Spies Call Test a Success Despite Crashes

Yamaha riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies each crashed but both riders deemed the third and final day of MotoGP testing in Malaysia a success.

Lorenzo and Spies both crashed during the morning of the test but were unhurt. Despite the minor setback, both riders managed to get a lot done at the Sepang International Circuit.

For Spies, it was his first opportunity to ride the 2012 Yamaha M1 in wet conditions. The texan used the opportunity to test suspension and electronic settings. His fastest lap of the day was clocked at 2:01.432, eighth best of all riders.

Today was good, we unfortunately had a small crash but we learnt a lot and got to test some new electronic settings which were a big improvement. We also tried some different shock settings which were a big step forward. It’s a shame we crashed but we know from this test that the bike has great potential so we can go to Jerez with confidence. – Spies

Meanwhile, Lorenzo ran a race simulation in the afternoon, laying down a number of laps in a row at a racing pace. Lorenzo successfully laid down lap times around the 2:01 mark, with a best lap time of 2:00.877 putting him fourth fastest overall.

Well, this afternoon was one of the hardest race simulations of my career because the 1000 is more tiring to ride and the rear tire seems to drop a lot after three or four laps. After this the feeling stays the same but it’s very different to last year, it’s almost like racing in the rain trying to control the rear in the corner exits and acceleration. I managed to finish the simulation with a good pace so all in all it has been a very positive test, thank you to Yamaha for their hard work. – Lorenzo

Perhaps the biggest surprise on the final day of testing was Andrea Dovizioso of the satellite  Monster Yamaha Tech3 squad. Dovisiozo is still recovering from an injury suffered in training but still logged 54 laps while setting a time of 2:00.802, third fastest on the day and ahead of all but the Honda factory duo of Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa.

The engine was very smooth and I could manage the sliding but one very important area was my physical condition. My shoulder was much better than the first test here and this enabled me to understand the potential of the YZR-M1 machine much more. I am much more confident on the bike and I am happy with the lap time and the position and we have done a very good job understanding many things here. I like the new engine because it helps with the corner entry, and this was already a really strong point of the Yamaha. I did a long run of 1 5-laps today and it was important to learn the characteristics of the bike over a longer distance. It was really interesting to understand about tire wear and we have some work to do but the potential of the bike is already at a very high level. – Dovizioso

His teammate Cal Crutchlow also came in under the 2:01 mark with a time of 2:00.986.

I like the new engine from Yamaha and credit to them because they have been working hard and the improvement bodes well for the start of the season. I’m happy with my lap time because this is not my favourite track at all and I am fifth fastest and very close to the top three. A major positive too is that I am very consistent and this is something that I have improved from last year. This gives me a lot of confidence and encouragement and I’m really enjoying riding the 1000cc bike. – Crutchlow

[Source: Yamaha]

By Dennis Chung