#SepangTest - February 7, 2024

The hard work continued on Wednesday in Malaysia with the second day of the Sepang MotoGP™ Official Test, which saw both Pedro Acosta and Augusto Fernandez go through an intense day on a track, with a bit more than one hundred laps between them. The grid did not mess around on that second day as lap times went down quickly, and we saw the all-time lap record of the Sepang International Circuit being smashed two times today. It was first 2023 runner-up Jorge Martin who crushed the 1'57.491 of Pecco Bagnaia with a 1’57.273 after just a couple of laps in this morning. Later on, Enea Bastianini took over with an impressive 1'57.134 as he topped the timesheets on day 2.

Second fastest on Tuesday, which was already impressive for the young rookie Pedro Acosta, things got even better for MotoGP’s new #31 after he improved his fastest lap to 1'57.726 after just fourteen laps this morning, which is 0.494 seconds faster than yesterday. Had he been a MotoGP™ rider back in November, that lap time would have put him fifth on the grid of the 2023 Malaysian Grand Prix. A  small crash at turn 9 called it out for the morning session as the team headed to their lunch break, and the action resumed at 4pm. Overall, race pace has improved for the Spaniard who is feeling more and more comfortable on the RC16, and he also felt very positive about the electronics after another day of experience on the machine. Acosta will have one more day on Thursday to finalize his six day-testing program in Sepang. Let’s keep the good vibes for one more!

The first day back to school is never the easiest one, and it was the case on day 1 for Red Bull GASGAS Tech3’s Augusto Fernandez who struggled a bit to find the feeling on his RC16. Things slightly improved for the number 37 on Wednesday as he went under the 1’59, with a lap in 1'58.915 early into the day. The Spaniard continued his search for a better feeling in general, as he tried different settings, still using the carbon chassis. The feeling improved, and there were positives to take from this second day on track after fifty laps of hard work to get the progress going.  A crash at around 5:30pm put an end to his day, but the third and final one awaits him on Thursday as he aims to make a step and head to Qatar next week with a clearer vision on the directions to take for the season. The action will be back at 10:00 local time tomorrow.


Position: 8th
Time: 1'57.726
Laps: 52
"Just like yesterday, the lap time was not our main target, but it is obviously very good to finish the day half a second faster than day 1. We improved our pace, I am also getting accustomed to the electronics, and I understand everything a bit more in general and my feedback when I arrive at the box is also getting more complete as days go by. This is a good feeling in general. The other riders are very experienced and are a lot faster, but remember that it is my third time in Malaysia. Considering this, my pace is very good, and I would say that we are on our way!”


Position: 20th
Time: 1'58.915
Laps:50
"We continued to try different things, different settings so I could feel comfortable on the bike, in addition to working on the aerodynamics. We have improved compared to yesterday, but we are still too slow. I ended the day with a late crash with just half an hour to go. This is not an easy test for us, nor an easy start to 2024, but we have pointed out the issues, so we know what we have to do tomorrow.”



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