Sepang MotoGP test: Dani Pedrosa edges Aleix Espargaro
Dani Pedrosa shaded Aleix Espargaro to set the pace on day two of MotoGP's second 2014 pre-season test at Sepang
The works Honda rider surged ahead in the final hour, denying Espargaro by just over two tenths of a second.
The latter excelled once again on his Open class Forward FTR-Yamaha, setting the pace for much of the day.
Alvaro Bautista, who went quickest on an unusual opening day, continued his own strong start by going third fastest for the Gresini Honda squad.
The Spaniard finished two tenths of a second down the road from Espargaro, and within half a second of Pedrosa.
Valentino Rossi, among the day's busiest riders with 60 laps under his belt, ended up fourth overall.
His Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, disgruntled by Bridgestone's new tyre compounds, finished five places and the best part of half a second further back.
Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow occupied fifth and seventh respectively, sandwiching the second satellite Honda of LCR man Stefan Bradl.
Pol Espargaro meanwhile ended up eighth for the Tech 3 satellite Yamaha outfit, the last rider to get within one second of Pedrosa.
As was the case on day one, Nicky Hayden was the best of Honda's Open riders but was 14th overall and more than 1.7s slower than the elder Espargaro.
Honda confirmed on Wednesday that Pedrosa's team-mate and defending champion Marc Marquez will miss the rest of the 2014 pre-season as a result of the broken leg he sustained in a training accident.
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap Laps 1. Dani Pedrosa Honda 2m00.039s 57 2. Aleix Espargaro Forward FTR-Yamaha 2m00.320s +0.281s 41 3. Alvaro Bautista Gresini Honda 2m00.500s +0.461s 55 4. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 2m00.605s +0.566s 60 5. Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 2m00.787s +0.748s 48 6. Stefan Bradl LCR Honda 2m00.902s +0.863s 52 7. Cal Crutchlow Ducati 2m00.952s +0.913s 52 8. Pol Espargaro Tech 3 Yamaha 2m01.027s +0.988s 47 9. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 2m01.049s +1.010s 57 10. Bradley Smith Tech 3 Yamaha 2m01.098s +1.059s 60 11. Andrea Iannone Pramac Ducati 2m01.173s +1.134s 49 12. Yonny Hernandez Pramac Ducati 2m01.658s +1.619s 50 13. Colin Edwards Forward FTR-Yamaha 2m01.996s +1.957s 45 14. Nicky Hayden Aspar Honda 2m02.088s +2.049s 59 15. Randy de Puniet Suzuki 2m02.139s +2.100s 60 16. Hector Barbera Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 2m02.149s +2.110s 45 17. Scott Redding Gresini Honda 2m02.652s +2.613s 54 18. Hiroshi Aoyama Aspar Honda 2m02.786s +2.747s 72 19. Michele Pirro Ducati 2m02.799s +2.760s 45 20. Katsuyuki Nakasuga Yamaha 2m02.802s +2.763s 48 21. Mike di Meglio Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 2m03.946s +3.907s 51 22. Karel Abraham Cardion Honda 2m05.198s +5.159s 25 23. Nobuatsu Aoki Suzuki 2m07.462s +7.423s 20
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