Jorge Lorenzo on top as Sepang test gets underway

After a two-month wait, the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team assembled in Malaysia to kick off the new season with the first Official MotoGP Test of 2016.

Wasting no time, riders Jorge Lorenzo and teammate Valentino Rossi immediately picked up where they left off, securing the top two positions.

Lorenzo arrived at the sunny and hot Malaysian circuit feeling slightly under the weather, but his mood changed as soon as he put his visor down and swung his leg over the new YZR-M1. He needed little time to move up to fifth place at the end of the first hour, before his smooth riding style took him to first position in the standings, which he held until the end of the session.

With his pace proven to be as fast as ever, the Spaniard then decided it was time to test various options for the setting of his bike and ended the day 1.033s ahead of the rest of the field with a fastest lap of 2‘00.684s.

JORGE LORENZO
I‘m very happy and surprised about the feeling I had today with the Michelin tyres. The lap times were relatively easy to achieve and every time we exited pit lane we improved something on the bike to understand the electronics better and they adapted very well to the Michelin tyres. I‘m very happy with the change, because Sepang, for me, is always difficult. Today I only slept two hours because of the jetlag and I have a sore throat so I‘m taking antibiotics. My physical condition is not perfect, but to ride two or three laps, I can do that very well. If I was fitter I could do longer stints.

Source: Movistar Yamaha