Casey Stoner - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com
Casey Stoner closed the second pre-season test on top after edging out Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa on Thursday in Malaysia. All four Honda riders missed yesterday's running as the Japanese manufacturer investigated an engine problem on Pedrosa's bike but Stoner was straight back on the pace, setting the quickest time of the week.
Apart from some minor chatter problems, the world champion was happy with the performance of his RC213V and his time of 2:00.473 put him a tenth ahead of Pedrosa who spent the day working on a number of different set-ups to overcome the same chatter issues.
The closest challenger came from Yamaha once again but this time it was Andrea Dovizioso who impressed for Monster Yamaha Tech 3. The Italian was just over three tenths off the pace and finished the test ahead of factory rider Jorge Lorenzo and teammate Cal Crutchlow. Hector Barbera completed the top six on the Pramac Ducati ahead of Alvaro Bautista while Wednesday pacesetter Ben Spies could only manage eighth after crashing in the morning.
Stefan Bradl was a solid ninth for LCR Honda which meant the factory Ducatis had to make do with tenth and eleventh. Valentino Rossi was the quicker of the two but admitted his concern with the number of riders ahead of him in the pecking order as well as the lack of progress made from the first test a month ago.
Behind Nicky Hayden in 11th came Franco Battaini while Colin Edwards led the trio of CRT runners. Yonny Hernandez got the better of Avintia Racing partner Ivan Silva but the gap to the leaders stood at six seconds.
Official MotoGP Test – Sepang (01/03/2012)
MotoGP Testing – Malaysia (Day Three Result)
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Bike | Team | Lap Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Casey Stoner | AUS | Honda | Repsol Honda Team | 2:00.473 |
| 2 | Dani Pedrosa | SPA | Honda | Repsol Honda Team | 2:00.648 |
| 3 | Andrea Dovizioso | ITA | Yamaha | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 2:00.802 |
| 4 | Jorge Lorenzo | SPA | Yamaha | Yamaha Factory Racing | 2:00.877 |
| 5 | Cal Crutchlow | GBR | Yamaha | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 2:00.986 |
| 6 | Hector Barbera | SPA | Ducati | Pramac Racing Team | 2:01.231 |
| 7 | Alvaro Bautista | SPA | Honda | San Carlo Honda Gresini | 2:01.275 |
| 8 | Ben Spies | USA | Yamaha | Yamaha Factory Racing | 2:01.432 |
| 9 | Stefan Bradl | GER | Honda | LCR Honda | 2:01.492 |
| 10 | Valentino Rossi | ITA | Ducati | Ducati Team | 2:01.550 |
| 11 | Nicky Hayden | USA | Ducati | Ducati Team | 2:01.609 |
| 12 | Franco Battaini | ITA | Ducati | Cardion AB Motoracing | 2:03.490 |
| 13 | Colin Edwards (CRT) | USA | Suter-BMW | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | 2:03.681 |
| 14 | Yonny Hernandez (CRT) | COL | FTR-Kawasaki | Avintia Racing | 2:06.632 |
| 15 | Ivan Silva (CRT) | SPA | FTR-Kawasaki | Avintia Racing | 2:06.785 |
