Very positive start for Petrux (4th) and Scott (8th) in the first official test of 2016 MotoGp season
1 Febbraio 2016
The first official test of the 2016 MotoGP season begins in an extremely positive way for the two riders of Octo Pramac Yakhnich. Danilo Petrucci and Scott Redding have confirmed the good impressions had in Jerez (Spain) in late November with their new Ducati Desmosedici GP and at the International Circuit of Sepang (Malaysia) they managed to end in fourth and eighth place their first day of activity. A very satisfactory result in light of the new regulations in terms of electronics and tires.
Danilo Petrucci immediately felt at ease with the new Michelin tires lapping soon with a good pace then registering a remarkable laptime of 2:01,811 that allowed him to remain long in the first place of the standings before the mid-day break.
Unfortunately the rider from of Terni failed to take in the afternoon that small step forward that would allow him to finish behind Jorge Lorenzo, today really fast with a crono of 2:00,684 (more than one second faster than Valentino Rossi, second at the end of the day).
Scott Redding’s priority is to work hard on feeling with the bike in his first career experience on a Ducati. The British rider has already proven to be comfortable, managing to lap in 2:02,388 with the hard tire and ending up his day in eighth place with 46 laps completed.
4° Danilo Petrucci – Octo Pramac Yakhnic #9
“I’m very happy for this first testing day. Feelings were immediately very good since the first run of the morning. We worked really well. Maybe in the afternoon I struggled a bit without being able to improve the laptime set in the morning. But we have understood our weaknesses and I am confident for tomorrow. I was a little nervous today as there were a lot of expectations. It was important to break the ice and I can’t wait to get back on track to be fast and consistent even tomorrow.
8° Scott Redding – Octo Pramac Yakhnich #45
My first impressions are really positive. I’m good, both with the team and the bike. It’s always a little difficult to come to Malaysia and do well soon. To be honest this is not one of my favorite circuits. What we need to do is to work step by step to improve without trying to do crazy things. It’s clear: if the feeling improves also the speed rises. But now we are working hard in terms of race pace. In any case I’m happy with the laptime set today.
