BAUTISTA AND ABRAHAM CONTINUE PROGRESS IN THAILAND

Ángel Nieto Team riders carry on work with their Ducati bikes at Buriram The second day of testing in Buriram saw Marc Márquez celebrate his 25th birthday with the fastest time, becoming the first rider to break the 1:30 barrier. The Spaniard stopped the clock at 1:29.969, eight tenths faster than the best time from the previous day. The MotoGP riders continue their search for a setup for this new circuit that MotoGP will visit in October, and the situation among the Top 10 remains very similar on day two, with four different manufacturers at the sharp end and four Ducati bikes among the fastest. Behind Márquez, Dani Pedrosa and Jack Miller close the top three on the second day of testing in Thailand. Ángel Nieto Team rider Álvaro Bautista put in close to ninety laps on a day in which, together with his crew, he worked on different setups -comparing them on the two Ducati GP17 bikes with which he will ride this season. He improved his time from yesterday by nearly 7 tenths. Teammate Karel Abraham also worked in short runs of six or seven laps. Like yesterday, he encountered complications once he reached a good pace, but worked with his team on different solutions to lower his times by several tenths in the final part of the day. 12+1 Álvaro Bautista 1:30.883 (89 laps): "We are having a positive test. Yesterday, as it was the first day here, we focused on getting a good setup. On the first day it was hard for us to find rear grip, both under braking and acceleration, and today we continued to try some modifications. The good thing about having both bikes already available in the box is that we can do very different tests in succession, with the same track conditions. In Sepang, with just one bike, we could not do that. Right now, we need to improve a little on our braking, because under the acceleration we are doing much better. In Malaysia we were able to take a small step forward, and here we have taken another one. Little by little, I'm feeling better on the bike." 21st Karel Abraham 1:31.661 (72 laps): "I like that we can come here, to Thailand, to compete. I rode here when I was in World Superbikes and I like the track: It reminds me a lot of Argentina, as it is quite similar. Above all, I like the fast sectors more than the narrow parts. The only problem is the weather; there is not high humidity like at Sepang, but it's very hot and the track temperature is sometimes 60 degrees. Yesterday we started well, until we reached a level where we started to discover some small problems with the setup. We have several plans and we hope to improve when the temperatures drop."