2018 Sepang MotoGP Test Tuesday 12pm Times: Lorenzo Under Lap Record As Riders Hunting Times

With next to no rain overnight, the MotoGP riders were met with a bone dry and blistering hot track on Tuesday morning, which meant they went straight to work. First order of business was a time attack: with air temperatures still rising, this was the best chance of a fast time the riders had been given during all three days of the test. 

Their attempts were rewarded. Half the field was quickly into the 1'59s, and before noon, Jorge Lorenzo had smashed the existing unofficial lap record of the track set by Marc Marquez in 2015. Lorenzo's time of 1'58.830 was just a fraction under the 1'58.867 set by Marquez, but it is a sign of both how much faster Lorenzo is this year, and how much the Michelins have improved in their first two seasons back in MotoGP.

Dani Pedrosa is second quickest at noon, missing out on a 1'58 by just nine thousandths of a second, and finishing ahead of Cal Crutchlow. Jack Miller's progress on the Pramac Ducati continues, while Alex Rins impresses on the Suzuki GSX-RR in fifth. Marc Marquez is currently sixth, ahead of Johann Zarco who is fastest of the Yamahas. Tito Rabat is eighth, another rider who has been transformed since switching from Honda to Ducati.

As the track heats up and air temperature rises, fast laps are getting harder to make. On the schedule for the rest of the day are race simulations - truly torture in the sweltering Malaysian heat - and then an early stop for the satellite riders, or testing until the rain comes for the factory riders.

Times at noon: