Rossi fastest in Sepang

Eurosport - Thu, 04 Feb 13:51:00 2010

Reigning seven time MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi began 2010 MotoGP testing on top of the timesheets by a comfortable 0.491sec at Sepang.

FIAT YAMAHA TEAM Rossi - 0

The Fiat Yamaha rider was fastest for much of the day, having recorded his best lap time of 2min 1.411sec on lap 15 of 54.

"Today was very important because this year we have just six days of testing in which to set the bike, so we can not waste any time, said Rossi.

This first day was very positive, we tried the new bike for 2010, with a different chassis and a new engine, which can do more kilometres, and it is quite fast.

Yamaha has worked very well over the winter. Now we need to spend time on setting some electronics and other things. This is only the start but it seems we're already in good shape."

Rossi's nearest rival was 2007 world champion Casey Stoner, who also set his best lap time early in the day, the Ducati star's best coming on lap 12 of 42. Stoner will be seeking a cure for chatter tomorrow.

Third fastest was satellite Tech 3 Yamaha rider Colin Edwards, who claimed to be delighted with the latest edition of the YZR-M1, with which he lapped just 0.03sec slower than Stoner and 0.170sec ahead of Suzuki's Loris Capirossi.

Fifth fastest and the final rider within one second of Rossi was the Italian's team-mate and 2009 title runner-up Jorge Lorenzo.

Repsol's Andrea Dovizioso was the top Honda rider in sixth, while Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro), Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) and Mika Kallio (Pramac Ducati) occupied places seventh to ninth.

Hector Barbera caused a surprise by being the fastest of the 2010 rookies in tenth place. The Spaniard steered his Aspar Ducati around the Malaysian Grand Prix circuit in a best time 1.6sec slower than Rossi.

A visibly jet-lagged Ben Spies was twelfth fastest (+1.732sec) and the World Superbike champion claims a good night's sleep, rather than any radical set-up changes, will take him nearer to the front.

Thursday saw intensive heat and humidity at Sepang, with rain finally arriving 20-minutes before the eight hours of scheduled track action had concluded.

Testing continues on Friday.

Crash.net / Eurosport

Comment 1 - 5 of 5

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  1. 5th place for a guy on sat equip and never ridden the­ track.
    that is frik'n incredible.

    he WILL be at­ the pointy end all year; he is just THAT fast..

    From anon, on Sat 6 Feb 11:32

  2. Bit concerned for Spies now! In Valencia he had the­ same machine as the 'factory' boys and that­ almost certainly helped in his run forward. However,­ Lin Jarvis the big boss of Yamaha (Brivio's boss)­ has already hinted (if not flatly stated) that the Tech­ 3 boys will not have parity with the FIAT squad and as­ and when upgrades come along Vale and Jorge will get­ them in advance and then Colin & Ben will get­ later. Sounds like much the same story as Tose when­ he was promised the same equipment only to see the gulf­ in machine capability widen (and I'm not defending­ JT as I thought that GPs are a bridge too far for his­ capabilities). However, with all the sabre rattling and­ fallout between Rossi and Lorenzo we could be seeing­ Ben move up to the factory team in 2011 with Lorenzo­ peddling off to Honda (with both Dovi and Dani's­ contracts up at end of the year). Although many dream­ of Rossi on a Duke they just don't have the money­ to sign him up unless they are prepared to break the­ bank for him. Also, think this F1 malarkey is just to­ give him greater bargaining power when negotiating­ later this year!

    From Gareth, on Sat 6 Feb 0:03

  3. Blimey chaps, give the lad a chance! We already know­ what he can do from the last race of last season!

    From Holty, on Fri 5 Feb 9:56

  4. 1."visibly jet lagged", Sounds like­ tosserland all over again!

    From A, on Fri 5 Feb 8:07

  5. "visibly jet lagged", pffft, don't make­ excuses for the lad. hope he'll do ok tho.

    From Christopher, on Fri 5 Feb 6:45
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