| MotoGP Sepang Testing: Rossi Fastest |
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| Written by Ron Lieback |
| Friday, 05 February 2010 00:35 |
And the fastest of the 17-rider field? Fiat Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi. The defending champion Rossi had a best time of 2.01:411 on his Yamaha M1, just a second slower than his time at the 2009 Sepang meeting that secured him the pole position. “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, Rossi said. “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 kilometers, 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.” The nine-time World Champion’s lap time was set during the morning hours on lap 15 of 54, but not far behind was Marlboro Ducati rider Casey Stoner. Stoner put in 42 laps on his Ducati Desmosedici GP10, running 0.491 slower than Rossi. Stoner said he was pleased with the engine, which was redesigned this year, and will focus more on the set-up of the bike during Day 2 of testing on Friday. Stoner, who finished last year’s championship in fourth after suffering an energy-robbing virus, complained of bike chatter during Thursday’s testing. “This first day was a bit difficult to understand: we started off with a setting that was quite good and that allowed us to make reasonably good lap times,” Stoner said. “We thought we would improve as the day went on but we had a few problems with chatter. We tried a lot of different combinations trying to make the bike feel a little bit better but we couldn’t really get an improvement.” The American Colin Edwards was the final rider to break the 2:02 mark, with the third best lap of 2:01.932. The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider, who finished last year’s championship in fifth place, was enthused by the bottom-end performance of his M1 Yamaha after completing 48 laps. “The engine seems much better off the bottom,” the Texan said. “Last year I’d open the throttle and nothing really happened, but this year there's a response when you push. I never even touched the bike today, I just got on it and rode it and it felt really natural and I could do what I wanted with the bike. It accelerated how I wanted, I could hold a line how I wanted and I was riding round talking to myself inside my helmet saying ‘how much fun is this?’ When the bike does what you ask, it's pretty easy.” Loris Capirossi was fourth fastest. The Rizla Suzuki rider was the first one on the track Thursday, turning in 58 laps with a best time of 2:02.102. The Suzuki team will be testing three different chassis (one from 2009, two new), and a new engine will be used for testing at the end of February. Taking the fifth fastest lap was Rossi’s teammate, Jorge Lorenzo. After completing 57 laps, he rode his Yamaha M1 to a 2:02.165. He said he struggled during the first few laps, but the Spaniard’s precise riding abilities gradually improved. “After such a long break I found it quite hard to find my rhythm on the bike today - motocross bikes are not the same as the new M1,” Lorenzo said. “It was quite a difficult start to the day but little by little I started to feel more comfortable and to improve my pace. This afternoon, when it was a bit warmer, I began to improve my times even more and get closer to the first rider, so in the end I was quite happy with our work.” During his first day of MotoGP testing, the rookie Ben Spies had a fastest lap of 2:03.142. Spies, on the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha team with Edwards, continued adjusting his Yamaha M1 while also learning the technical aspects of the Sepang Circuit. “I tried as hard as I could for the first day but I’ve got a little bit of jetlag and I wasn’t at 100 percent,” the reigining World Superbike Champion said. “Despite that though the new bike is really good. I got behind a couple of people and the engine performance was really good and that is a real positive. I’ve got a lot to learn and it takes time.” Rain forced riders of the track a half an hour early, but testing will continuing Friday morning. The 2010 MotoGP season begins April 11 at Losail in Qatar. Day 1 Sepang Test Times 1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 2'01.411
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