Arizona Tribune - Bastianini sets unofficial MotoGP Sepang lap record on day two testing

Spaniard Martin had picked up from where he left off by eclipsing his lap time from Tuesday to clock 1 min 57.273 sec on his Ducati machine barely an hour into Wednesday's session under scorching conditions in Malaysia.

Martin's record lasted for seven hours until Bastianini blitzed through the track to set 1 min 57.134 sec on his Ducati Lenovo to ensure the day belonged to him.

South African Brad Binder completed the top three just under a hundredth of a second behind Martin, while Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro came in fourth ahead of reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia in fifth.

The 26-year-old Bastianini, who also won last year's Malaysian GP, smiled when asked by reporters if he could dip to 1 min 56 sec.

"It can be possible but we will first have to see how the track conditions are. It will be interesting to see if we can do the 56. It is important to be fast on the lap time, I am happy about this. I am more confident on the bike this year," he said.

"I know what to expect. There will be pressure to always do a faster lap, but you also have to stay calm," Bastianini added.

Martin, meanwhile, was looking forward to further fine-tuning his bike ahead of Thursday's session.

"I hope tomorrow we can understand the way to go and maybe do some changes on the bike to improve the feeling," the 26-year-old said.

The final day of testing takes place tomorrow.

Pre-Season MotoGP test times on Wednesday at the Sepang Circuit (5.543km):

Enea Bastianini (ITA/Ducati) 1 min 57.134 sec, Jorge Martin (ESP/Ducati) 1 min 57.273 sec, Brad Binder (RSA/KTM) 1 min 57.327 sec, Aleix Espargaro (ESP/Aprilia) 1 min 57.446 sec, Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Ducati) 1 min 57.469 sec, Fabio Di Giannantonio (ITA/Ducati) 1 min 57.619 sec, Alex Marquez (ESP/Ducati) 1 min 57.672 sec, Pedro Acosta (ESP/KTM) 1 min 57.726 sec, Marco Bezzecchi (ITA/Ducati) 1 min 57.867 sec, Joan Mir (ESP/Honda) 1 min 57.872 sec

T.Sanchez--AT