The first round of the 2014 MotoGP test in Sepang saw the continued domination of 2013’s World Champion, Marc Marquez, as the young Spaniard came on top in all three days of testing. He also set the fastest ever MotoGP lap at Sepang after breaking Casey Stoner’s unofficial test time of 1m 59.607s from two years ago – with his best lap time 1m 59.533.
The youngest world champion in the MotoGP has clocked that amazing lap time during the morning session on the final day of the test. “I’m pretty happy with how the three days here in Sepang have gone, and we have started the pre-season well. It’s true that this is only the first test, and we still have work to do, but we’ve already been able to do a race simulation and it has all gone well,” he said.
Seven time MotoGP champion and Yamaha rider, Valentino Rossi, did reasonably well by becoming the second fastest on day three behind Marquez, with his best lap time of 1m 59.727s which is not far off from Stoner’s best time, showing the Yamaha has what it takes to regain supremacy in 2014. “The test has been very good, I’m very happy, especially for the second position and more than that for the lap time, which is the best of my career in Sepang,” said Rossi.
After difficulties in the first two days, Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo completed the test in third. The Mallorcan rider has faced problems with the bike’s electronics, but still more work needs to be done to compete with the Honda machineries.
The 2014 MotoGP regulations saw changes on the categorization of bikes, which were “factory” class for the manufacturers and the new “Open” class, replacing the CRT category. The Open bikes will always have a disadvantage compared to the factory bikes, so regulation changes were made so the gap between both bikes will get closer.
Both factory and open bikes will use the same standardized electronics from Magneti Marelli. The only difference is the software used – Open bikes will utilize programming provided with the ECU, whereas Factory machines can use their own software especially developed for use with the unit.
Where the factory teams have an advantage on the ECU, the tradeoff goes to the fuel factory bikes can carry where factory bikes are allowed to carry 20 litres of fuel, compared to 24 litres for the open bikes. Also, during the entire 2014 season factory bikes are entitled to only five engines per bike, compared to open class bikes where they have additional seven more engines than the factory bikes.
The MotoGP riders will return to Sepang for the next round of official test from February 26-28.
[Source: Crash.com]
