• Day Two closed with both factory Yamahas leading the pack.

• The factory Ducatis and Hondas finished lower down the field.

• The times from first to fifth are faster than last year’s race qualifying time.

Yamaha MotoGP fans’ concerns about the team’s performance is allayed at the end of Day Two of the 2018 Sepang Official MotoGP Test, when both riders Maverick Vinalez and Valentino Rossi clocked the fasted times of the weekend so far.

It was another mad dash with about an hour to go for the day, when almost all the riders went on track for one final session. Andrea Davizioso had held on to his fastest time from just after midday with Rossi in second and Marquez in third. The trio were the only riders who cracked the 2:00 minute mark of the day and were separated by less than 0.2 second.

It was Marquez who first went faster by just 0.002 second ahead of Dovizioso, followed by Johann Zarco (1:59.702), then Cal Crutchlow (1:59.443). But just as everyone was looking to see if they could better their times, Rossi went ahead and posted the (then) fastest lap of 1:59.390.

But the Italian’s teammate Maverick Vinalez had other plans, as he overhauled Rossi with a superfast 1:59.355 time.

Looking at the sector times of both Yamahas, they were close to each other’s, which could either mean that we could see their characteristics, or that they were both running similar settings. They seemed to have picked up some power too, as both bikes’ top speeds were close to Doviziso’s. Besides that, word in the paddock has it that the Yamahas were running on the medium compound tyres, which means that they could go even faster on the softs in qualifying trim.

Jack Miller is having a superb time of the Alma Pramac Racing Ducati as he claimed fifth fastest with a time of 1:59.509. That time is already faster than the 2017 pole position time for the 2017 Malaysian MotoGP.

Although there are still many variables in play during any test session, the times recorded so far from first to fifth have beaten last year’s pole position time.

There’s a much better mix of bikes and teams within today’s Top Five, compared to yesterday’s: There are the two factory Yamahas on top, a satellite Honda team (Crutchlow) in third, a factory Ducati in fourth (Lorenzo 1;59.498), and a satellite Ducati in fifth (Miller).

Defending champ, Marquez ended the day in seventh (1:59.730). As he had revealed yesterday, he had been testing the 2017 bike with different engine’s yesterday and the 2018 bike today.

Dovizioso went out again during the last session but couldn’t improve on his earlier time of 1:59.732 and was relegated to eighth.

Danilo Petrucci, who’s riding the Ducati GP18 and Jack Miller’s teammate, finished in ninth after clocking his best time of 1:59.747.

In tenth is Andrea Ianone from Team Suzuki Ecstar. He clocked a best time of 1:59.917.

Rain had stayed away throughout the day. Track temperatures climbed into the lower 40 ^oC, before hovering in the high thirties due to the strong breeze.

We can’t wait for tomorrow’s testing, and they’ll definitely go faster!

• Day Two of the 2018 Sepang Official MotoGP Test started under bright sunlight.

• Only three riders have gone under the 2:00 minute mark thus far.

• It’s a three-way fight among Ducati, Honda and Yamaha at the moment.

Day Two if the 2018 Sepang Official MotoGP Test opens to bright sunshine and hot weather, providing the teams with a great opportunity to record some useful data.

As at 1500 hrs. (3pm), riders Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), Andrea Dovizioso and Marc Marquez (Honda) trade fastest times.

Rossi had held the fastest time of 1:59.766 going into the hour, but Dovizioso fought back to better it with a time of 1:59.732, just 0.034 second faster. Marquez, who starts testing the 2018 bike today, clocked his fastest time of 1:59.988.

More interestingly, however, was on which part of the track was Rossi faster compared to Dovizioso. The former was fastest in Sectors 1, 3 and 4. Dovi was faster than Rossi only in Sector 2.

Please refer to the layout of the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) below.

Sector 1 (in yellow) is from the Start/Finish line to the exit of Turn 3, Sector 2 (in red) is from the exit of Turn 3 to before the entrance into Turn 7, Sector 3 (in green) is from Turn 7 to the entrance of Turn 13, and Sector 4 (in grey) is from Turn 13 back to the Start/Finish line.

Provisionally, it shows that the new Yamaha is faster in the tighter twisty sections of Sectors 1 and 3, allowing the rider to carry the speed into Sector 4.

Section 2 consists of the chute into Turn 4, then the sweeping Turns 5 and 6, before a short run into Turn 7. Dovi’s time in this Sector was 27.339 seconds, compared to Rossi’s 27.577 seconds.

A we mentioned that is really preliminary at this time of the day and the riders will definitely go faster later in the day.

Also, do remember that the riders and teams may be testing motorcycles as whole, but if we break it down, these tests are also for important for the suppliers of other components such as electronics, suspension, brakes, tyres, exhaust systems, oil and fluids in the bike; riding gear including the helmet, gloves, suit, boots and almost anything else you could think of.