Source: Supplied.

Andrea Iannone (Team Suzuki Ecstar) made the timesheets fantastic reading for his new home Suzuki on day two of the Sepang test, as he smashed Ducati test rider Casey Stoner’s day one pace to set the fastest lap of the test so far.

A 1m59.452s saw the Italian an incredible four tenths clear of the man in second, Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP). Impressing once again, Alvaro Bautista (Pull&Bear Aspar Team) was third.

Rain and damp conditions were the early headlines of the second day, with no real action until the final few hours of the session as it began to fully dry. Once conditions allowed riders to push, the first crasher of the season was Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini), with Scott Redding and Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Yakhnich), Loris Baz (Reale Esponsorama Racing) and Tito Rabat (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) the other fallers on day two.

Rabat’s incident at turn seven briefly brought out the red flag with an hour to go, and the Spaniard was sent to the hospital in Putrajaya for further examination following the crash. He suffered a fracture in his hand, wounds to his left knee as well as his right foot and both wrists having taken heavy impact in the incident. He will not take part in the final days of testing.

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s new fairing – featuring internal winglets – was one of the big debuts of the day as the ban on external winglets comes into force in 2017. With work condensed down into the hours of dry track time, both Yamaha riders Viñales and Italian legend Valentino Rossi made the most of day two, with 51 and 54 laps completed respectively.

Viñales’ best of 1m59.858s kept him P2, with Rossi fourth on a 2m00.254s. The young Spaniard was the only other rider to dip below the two minute mark, four tenths off session leader Iannone’s quickest time.

Iannone, who also impressed on day one as he settles into life at Suzuki, led for some time until losing the top spot and then going red in every sector to take it back. The Italian has been focusing on a new engine as a point of exploration throughout his 40 completed laps and rookie teammate Alex Rins increased the good vibes for the Hamamatsu factory as he improved on his day one efforts to go 13th.

Johann Zarco was the fastest rookie of day two. After a solid first time on track on Monday, the Frenchman took back that honour from Monster Yamaha Tech 3 teammate Jonas Folger. Zarco lined up an incredible P5 – after having also briefly topped the timesheets for the first time in the premier class – and put in a 2m00.343s after 50 laps. Folger continued his impressive run with a 2m00.495s after 43 laps, ending the day ninth.

Hector Barbera (Reale Esponsorama Racing) impressed on day two to join Alvaro Bautista in the top echelons of the timesheets on an Independent Team Ducati. Bautista in third did a 2m00.218s, with Barbera in sixth posting a best of 2m00.352s. The two men led the charge on day two for the Borgo Panigale factory, with the Ducati Team riders Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo slotting into P7 and P8.

Dovizioso had a good day one in Malaysia as he was the quickest race rider behind timesheet-topping tester Stoner, and the Italian ramped up the workload on day two to put in an increased 42 laps with a best of 2m00.441s, around half a second down on his day one pace.

Teammate Lorenzo, who ended day one in 17th, took a leap up the timesheets as he gets used to life in red and ended second day in eighth, only 0.043 off his new teammate. The ‘Spartan’ put in an impressive 66 laps despite the time wasted by the weather, and finished the day a second off Iannone’s fastest lap of the session.

Reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez rounded out the top 10, as the Repsol Honda Team ended day two in P10 and P14 with Marquez and teammate Dani Pedrosa. Marquez also suffered a stoppage on track at turn 12, but put in a best of 2m00.531s during the course of his 33 laps. Pedrosa was only a few tenths back, with a 2m00.886s his fastest lap after 44 circulations of Sepang.

Aleix Espargaro was 11th for Aprilia Racing Team Gresini despite his crash, with a 2m00.609s to narrowly head LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow’s 2m00.691s. Behind Rins and Pedrosa, the final rider in the top 15 was Scott Redding, who did a best of 2m00.972s after 36 laps.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing duo Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith put in 37 and 32 laps respectively, and ended the day in 20th and 25th as they make progress through the incredible amount of testing work for the Austrian manufacturer, including three different chassis. Australia’s Jack Miller (Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) split them in 21st.