Zarco pleased with significant progress in second day of Sepang MotoGP testing

MotoGP 2019 IRTA test Sepang - Day 2 (MYS)

Eight hours of evaluation and decision-making continued at Sepang today for both Red Bull KTM and Red Bull KTM Tech3 in the second day of the first 2019 MotoGP IRTA test. Johann Zarco managed to dip under the two minute lap-time barrier for the first time with his KTM RC16 as he found more improvement with his corner entry feeling. The Frenchman rested just one second from the fastest effort set by Maverick Viñales as many riders tried a ‘time attack’ in the final minutes of the day.

Pol Espargaro suffered another crash – his second of the test – in the morning but was soon back into his hectic testing workload and was the second busiest rider around the Sepang course with 67 laps logged throughout the day. The Spaniard was less than half a second from his teammate’s best Chrono but now has aims on refining a race set-up tomorrow in Malaysia.

Miguel Oliveira and Hafizh Syahrin posted 114 laps between them with the Portuguese managing his quickest lap at Sepang so far. Test rider Mika Kallio was close in lap-times to Oliveira and Espargaro.

Pol Espargaro: “100% the bike is getting better. We did a lot of things today and by the end I was a bit overloaded. It was hot again and we did a lot of laps. The crash in the morning didn't help. I think tomorrow will be more relaxed and we can concentrate on a fast lap or a good rhythm. Rear grip was my main concern coming here and we improved that but then had some issues with the front pushing. We also tested more electronics and aerodynamics. I think we touched all the parts of the bike! We’ll sleep well tonight and maybe test less things tomorrow. We’ll focus more on the actual bike set-up instead of trying big things. More like a normal day [at a GP].”

Johann Zarco: “We worked on corner entry so I could be more confident. It was already getting better yesterday but I was missing an easy feeling. During the day I became more natural and I could focus on other things about my riding to make the step. It was like a wave this morning with the good lap-time and I could keep surfing on it all day. At the end of the afternoon we changed the set-up and once I put on new tyres I had that small gift to get under two minutes. It is kind of a reference now. It gives me a smile and a feeling of happiness. A better improvement than what I expected and we’ll keep pushing in that way tomorrow to see what else we can do, and especially with the bike over many laps.”

Miguel Oliveira: “It seems like we can improve our lap time every day a little bit. With the used tyres I was quite happy with my performance, also with the performance of the bike. I’m very motivated, plus the team is doing a great job, we understand the bike more and more. Today we were only missing the time attack, but I would say we are quite strong and on a good direction.”

Hafizh Syahrin: “To be honest, I’m still quite slow at the moment and far from the top, especially because Maverick (Viñales) improved in the end. But now I start to understand many things when I was on the track. When I followed some riders like my teammate Miguel and also Pol Espargaro and Mika Kallio I tried to understand how they can do such good turning. Now we found out where the point is and we’ll improve it for the last day tomorrow. I keep my motivation and work hard and also try to give my best for my team.”

IRTA Test Day 2 test standings

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