MotoGP riders tested at Sepgang for the second time today, after waiting for the Malaysian track to dry out from the looming rains. For their second outing, Ben Spies gets the most improved award, as the Texan rookie moved up from yesterday’s 12th place testing position (2’03.142) to being the 5th quickest man around the track (2’02.266) today. Spies had complained of jetlag yesterday, but with nearly a second dropped off his pace, it would seem he got a full night’s sleep last night. The Malaysian outing has been especially good for Tech3 Yamaha, which saw Colin Edwards as the 3rd quickest man yesterday.
Talking about his marked improvement today, Spies said the following:
“I rode as good and as hard as I could considering how I’ve been feeling. I’m not wanting to make any excuses but I didn’t feel really good with the jetlag. It was still a good test because I learned a lot about improving my riding and adapting my style to suit the Yamaha MotoGP bike. It is hard to break some of my old superbike habits at the moment but I made some big improvements in a couple of places on the track where I was really struggling, particularly in the braking. It started to feel more natural today and I got down to some decent times on race tyres. I was a second faster than the first day, so we made some good progress but this is a really difficult track to learn. This track is really long and really wide, but I got to a respectable pace. I’ve said it a load of times but it’s a learning process and every lap I’m learning. My guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3 though have been brilliant again. We’re all putting in a lot of effort and I’m pleased with the steps I’ve made.”
Friday Sepang Test Times, courtesy of GPOne.com:
1. Rossi (Yamaha-Fiat) 2.00.925 (32 laps)
2. Stoner (Ducati-Marlboro) 2.01.320 (36 laps)
3. Lorenzo (Yamaha-Fiat) 2.01.680 (60 laps)
4. Pedrosa (Honda-Repsol) 2.01.822 (50 laps)
5. Spies (Yamaha-Monster) 2.02.266 (31 laps)
6. Dovizioso (Honda-Repsol) 2.02.272 (56 laps)
7. Edwards (Yamaha-Monster) 2.02.479 (42 laps)
8. Hayden (Ducati-Marlboro) 2.02.493 (55 lap)
9. Espargarò (Ducati-Pramac) 2.02.647 (33 laps)
10. Capirossi (Suzuki-Rizla) 2.02.763 (48 laps)
11. Melandri (Honda-Gresini) 2.02.810 (55 laps)
12. Barberà (Ducati-Aspar) 2.03.032 (51 laps)
13. De Puniet (Honda-LCR) 2.03.043 (48 laps)
14. Aoyama (Honda-Interwetten) 2.03.195 (56 laps)
15. Simoncelli (Honda-Gresini) 2.03.245 (49 laps)
16. Bautista (Suzuki-Rizla) 2.03.274 (37 laps)
17. Kallio (Ducati-Pramac) 2.03.359 (53 laps)
18. Yamaha O 2.05.803 (29 laps)
19. Yamaha T 2.06.621 (20 laps)
Thursday Sepang Test Times, courtesy of GPOne.com:
1. Rossi (Yamaha-Fiat) 2.01.411 ( 54 laps)
2. Stoner (Ducati-Marlboro) 2.01.902 (42 laps)
3. Edwards (Yamaha-Monster) 2.01.932 (48 laps)
4. Capirossi (Suzuki-Rizla) 2.02.102 (58 laps)
5. Lorenzo (Yamaha-Fiat) 2.02.165 (57 laps)
6. Dovizioso (Honda-Repsol) 2.02.630 (51 laps)
7. Hayden (Ducati-Marlboro) 2.02.792 (46 laps)
8. Pedrosa (Honda-Repsol) 2.02.866 (52 laps)
9. Kallio (Ducati-Pramac) 2.02.987 (70 laps)
10. Barbera (Ducati-Aspar) 2.03.030 (59 laps)
11. Espargarò (Ducati-Pramac) 2.03.133 (54 laps)
12. Spies (Yamaha-Monster ) 2.03.142 (55 laps)
13. De Puniet (Honda-LCR) 2.03.456 (62 laps)
14. Bautista (Suzuki-Rizla) 2.03.558 (51 laps)
15. Simoncelli (Honda-Gresini) 2.03.563 (54 laps)
16. Melandri (Honda-Gresini) 2.03.609 (28 laps)
17. Aoyama (Honda-Interwetten) 2.03.651 (66 laps)
18. Yamaha T 2.05.732 (40 laps)
19. Yamaha O 2.06.206 (36 laps)
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