Rossi tops the test times once again in Malaysia

Valentino Rossi continued from where he left off at the last test in Malaysia today, setting the fastest time once again on the first day of the second pre-season outing at Sepang. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo is not in action at this test as he is currently recovering at home in Spain from a hand injury. It was a dry day in Sepang with temperatures reaching 37 degrees and 31-year-old Rossi made the most of it, completing 47 laps. He and his crew continued to work on the development of the 2010 YZR-M1 prototype, checking different settings and trying some new electronic maps. The Italian’s best time of the day was 2’01.068, just a fraction off his best time at the last test and 0.151 ahead of Casey Stoner in second place. Valentino Rossi - Position: 1st Time: 2'01.068 Laps: 47 “We started well today and we’re already very fast, so we’re quite happy about this. We’ve confirmed that the work we did at the last test was good and it’s clear we’re in good shape at this track. We worked on two or three different settings and today we’ve more or less made a decision about the right way to go with balance, suspension etc so this is good progress. We also tried some new electronic maps, to try to improve acceleration, but we need to do more work on this again tomorrow. It’s good to be fast at this stage and now we’re really just waiting to go to another track, to see how this new M1 will perform there. Tomorrow we will do a long run, maybe not race distance but just quite a few laps together, which will be the final part of our work at this track.” Spies and Edwards storm top six in Sepang Ben Spies and Colin Edwards continued their 2010 MotoGP preparations in impressive fashion in Malaysia today, the American duo both occupying a place in the top six on the timesheets. In typically hot and humid conditions at the 5.548km Sepang circuit, Spies was one of the fastest and most consistent performers on track, the Texan clocking a best time of 2.01.843 to finish fifth overall. The ideal track conditions presented Spies with the perfect opportunity to continue learning more about his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine. The 25-year-old spent time working on revised geometry settings to improve rear grip and he managed to shave close to 0.4s off his best time when he made an impressive debut at the technical Sepang circuit just three weeks ago. Just one place and 0.054s further back was Edwards, who clocked a best time of 2.01.897 despite a minor technical issue this morning costing him precious track time. Edwards still had a positive day, making big strides with a new YZR-M1 swingarm while also evaluating new electronics as Yamaha works tirelessly to ensure it remains the dominant brand in MotoGP this season. The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team has one more day of testing tomorrow in Sepang before the reduced pre-season schedule concludes in Qatar next month.

Ben Spies - Position: 5th Time: 2'01.843 Laps: 42 “It was hot out there today but I'm happy with how I performed and I feel I've accomplished a fair bit. I automatically picked up where I left off here because my fourth lap today was only three-tenths slower than my best time at the first test. I'm close to half-a-second faster than the last test and I'm more consistent. My fastest laps were all on tyres that had done race distance and that makes me happier than anything else. It's not so much that I got under the 2.02 barrier but I did it on worn tyres and I think that will be one of my big strong points this season. I feel like I'm getting closer to finding the limit of the Bridgestone tyres and I'm getting more comfortable on them, but we still need to do more work. Today we played around with the bike a bit more than previously just to understand a few things but it was nothing major. Some changes were good and some were bad and I feel we made some important progress and I definitely had more grip. Everyday I'm trying to learn something and go a little bit quicker and that's what I achieved.”

Colin Edwards

Colin Edwards - Position: 6th Time: 2'01.897 Laps: 35 “After the small problem I had this morning I had to play catch up pretty quick to the rest of the guys but I managed to do some good laps and I'm happy with my pace. It was a productive day and I feel like we've learned a few things. Everybody is testing electronics and Yamaha have done another good job because what I tried definitely has some good points and they are moving in the right direction. Yamaha might have dominated last year but they definitely haven't just taken the easy option and sat back. They've worked really hard on improving what was already a great bike, and some of the improvements have really helped me. I did more work on the new swingarm and I like it. It seems to help the front and the rear of the bike and it gives me a lot more confidence. And it helps a lot with my front feeling, which I had an issue with a bit last year.” 1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 2'01.068 2. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 2’01.219 3. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Repsol Honda Team 2’01.631 4. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2’01.687 5. Ben Spies (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2’01.843 6. Colin Edwards (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2’01.897 7. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 2’02.036 8. Mika Kallio (FIN) Pramac Racing Team 2’02.038 9. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2’02.078 10. Marco Melandri (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 2’02.086 11. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team 2’02.22 12. Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN) Interwetten-Honda MotoGP 2’02.419 13. Aleix Espargaro (SPA) Pramac Racing Team 2’02.447 14. Hector Barbera (SPA) Aspar Team 2’02.485 15. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 2’02.535 16. Marco Simoncelli (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 2’03.254