Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi has drawn first blood in the Sepang MotoGP tests, heading the timesheet by half a second over Casey Stoner and Texan Colin Edwards on day one.
The Doctor put in a 2'01.411 lap which is faster than Stoner's lap record of 2'02.108 and just under a second off his own outright best lap of 2'00.518, set in practice last year.
"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. 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," said Rossi.
"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."
Sepang MotoGP test day one - conditions dry
1 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha 2'01.411
2 Casey Stoner Marlboro Ducati 2'01.902
3 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha 2'01.932
4 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki 2'02.102
5 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha 2'02.165
6 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda 2'02.630
7 Nicky Hayden Marlboro Ducati 2'02.792
8 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda 2'02.866
9 Mika Kallio Pramac Ducati 2'02.987
10 Hector Barbera Asoar Ducati 2'03.030
11 Aleix Espargaro Pramac Ducati 2'03.133
12 Ben Spies Monster Yamaha 2'03.142
13 Randy De Puniet LCR Honda 2'03.456
14 Alvaro Bautista Rizla Suzuki 2'03.558
15 Marco Simoncelli Gresini Honda 2'03.563
16 Marco Melandri Gresini Honda 2'03.609
17 Hiro Aoyama Interwetten Honda 2'03.651
"WE LAUGHTED,IT WAS FUN."
Edited: 04/02/2010 at 15:34
