Lorenzo 'connects' with new M1 electronics

Former MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo took another step forward with the new 1000cc factory Yamaha, despite just two hours of dry track time during day two of the second Sepang test.

The Spaniard found a much better throttle connection for his M1 in the dry morning conditions, when he was second to team-mate Ben Spies by just 0.008sec on the Honda-less timesheets.

Lorenzo then joined Spies in making his 1000cc wet weather debut in the afternoon.

“Today as yesterday we lost a lot of hours to the rain, but anyway we could ride for the first time with the 1000 in the rain,” said Lorenzo.

“That was positive. I could feel and see that in the rain we are also very competitive, because I was the fastest and quite consistent, although a lot of riders didn't run in the wet.

“For sure Casey will be fast also, but anyway I feel very strong in the wet and in the dry we improved the throttle connection a lot.

“This improved with the new electronics we tried today. Cornering is much easier now because I have more grip and confidence in the rear tyre. I can slide the rear more and we also have less wheelies. Yesterday the connection was not very constant.”

Looking ahead to the third and final day, Lorenzo revealed that he will have another significant development to evaluate.

“Tomorrow I think we have a new chassis to try,” he said. “We will also try to improve the lap time and do a long run, well a medium run anyway. If the weather is ok.”