SEPANG: Italian, Enea Bastianini is now, unofficially, the fastest MotoGP rider in the 5.543 kilometer (km) Sepang International Circuit (SIC).
The 26-year-old from Ducati Lenovo Team rider, clocked the fastest lap time of one minute and 57.134 seconds (s) during the penultimate lap of the 2024 Sepang Official Test’s second day, today.
It was Prima Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martin who had set the new unofficial record of 1:57.273s in the morning (around 10.30am), bettering Pecco Bagnaia’s official race-day time of 1:57.491s set during last year’s Malaysian Grand Prix (GP).
After about seven hours later, the 2023 Malaysian GP winner Bastianini posted the fastest lap, and was close to becoming the first ever rider to record 1:56s, but missed the honour due a small mistake in the last lap and 47th lap.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Brad Binder of South Africa was the third fastest with 1:57.327s, followed by Aleix Espargaro of Aprilia Racing (1:57.446s) and Ducati’s reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia (1:57.469s), who all clocked better lap times than Pecco’s record last year.
Speaking to media after the test, Bastianini, who only managed to secure 15th place in the world championship after missing several rounds due to injuries, said the new aerodynamic set up and fairing was great for him to improve his performance.
“I think for me, 80 percent of track better with new set up, the machine is faster with the new fairing and also exhaust. But we have to adjust the throttle because it’s a little bit strange, the rest is really good.
“I am more confident than last year, because it was completely new for me in 2023, the bike, team, and the working side of team. This year, I know better, and today did very well,” Bastianini, who is known as The Beast, said.
Meanwhile, Martin, 26, said he started the day well with the old fairings, but it struggled to keep the pace due to the challenges faced after changing to new fairings.
“Tomorrow we have to still work on it and understand if it’s better or we will keep the old one. I hope that tomorrow we can understand the way to go and may be doing some changes on the bike to improve the feeling,” he said.
The three-day winter test would conclude tomorrow, as the riders and teams will resume their final pre-season testing in the Qatar MotoGP Official Test at the Lusail International Circuit from Feb19-20, ahead of the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix (GP) from March 7-9.
SIC will host the Malaysian GP, the penultimate round of the 21-race season from Oct 31 to Nov 2. –Bernama