Progress for Lorenzo despite sixth place

The 2010 and 2012 World Champion Jorge Lorenzo slipped to sixth on the Sepang test Day 2 timesheet, but he did improve by half a second on his Tuesday best and got through some important work on electronics settings.

Lorenzo’s best time of 2’00.573 - on the 27th of his 49 laps - on Wednesday left him 0.647s behind title rival and pace man Marc Marquez, but also behind his team-mate Valentino Rossi and the likes of FTR Yamaha-equipped compatriot Aleix Espargaro.

Lorenzo and Rossi worked through a number of different test items for the Yamaha engineers as well as some tyre testing for Bridgestone. The Spaniard made some improvements to the electronic setting of his YZR-M1 to provide further corner stability, leaving him happier with his feeling than he had been on Day 1.

"Apart from the position, which is not ideal, I think we made a step forward," Lorenzo commented.

"Changing something in the electronics, we improved the behaviour of the bike in the corners and it is now more like last year.

"I can keep a more constant pace and be a little faster for one lap. We need to keep working, as our rivals are strong at the moment, but today I’m more happy than yesterday."

The three-day test at Sepang will conclude on Thursday afternoon.