-- HRC Report - Day Two

One day after wondering if he could even ride, Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda RC213V) sprinted to the top time on the hot and sultry second of three days of MotoGP testing at the Sepang Circuit. Team-mate Dani Pedrosa was fourth fastest, with San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Alvaro Bautista improving one place to eighth, while MotoGP rookie Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda RC213V) recovered from his first MotoGP spill to improve his time by over 1.2s.

Reigning World champion Stoner was rendered immobile when a nearly decade-old back injury flared up as he was preparing for the start of the test on Tuesday morning. The injury, suffered in the 125cc GP in the 2003 Dutch TT, put him out of action and onto the physiotherapist's table after only a few exploratory laps. But when he woke up on Wednesday morning, and with the help of some over-the-counter medication "that takes the edge off," he was ready to ride, he said.

The 26-year-old Australian spent the day comparing the new RC213V chassis to the one he had tested at the end of 2011 in Valencia. The diligence paid off, with the team finding a direction for the third and final day of the test, while giving Stoner a machine on which he could set both the day's best time and one of his personal best. Stoner was the only one to lap the 5.548Km track under the two minute one second target, with a best of 2m, 0.895s.

Pedrosa took advantage of the better weather to improve his time by over half a second. Unlike Tuesday, when overnight rains kept riders idle until late in the morning, Wednesday was sunny, hot, and humid; the track temperature was 50 degrees C. The team continued working on the new RC213V to reduce chatter, which has become noticeable on most of the MotoGP factory prototypes with the newest generation control tyres. Solving that issue is magnified by the concurrent issue of braking stability, which most of the riders agree is more essential on the 1000cc machines than the previous 800s.

San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Bautista took nearly a second off his best lap time as he gained confidence in the Honda RC213V. Bautista sprinted out of the garage in the morning to take advantage of the slightly cooler temperatures; from 11 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. the searing heat makes it more difficult to achieve a good lap time. It was in the slightly cooler afternoon-the track is open until 6:00 p.m.-that the Spaniard recorded his best time, on the 45th of 46 laps. That put the team on the right path for the third and final day of the test on Thursday.

Bradl's best lap of 2m, 2.414s was set in the morning on the ninth of 41 laps. Not long after the young German endured every rider's rite of passage, his first MotoGP crash, which was a result of trying a slightly different line in a right hand corner around the middle of the day. With only minor damage to both himself and his LCR Honda RC213V, he was able to resume his testing program and considerably improve his time.

The test concludes on Thursday.

HONDA MotoGP RIDER QUOTES

Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda RC213V): 1st, 2m, 0.895s "It was great to be able to ride today and everything went pretty well, although I would have liked to have done a few more laps. We spent most of the day on the new chassis comparing it back to back with the one we had in Valencia and we found a good direction and where we want to go. As usual, it would be great to take some elements from one chassis and some from the other, but at least we found the direction we are happy to follow. We used the hard front tyre this afternoon, but found we had more chattering with it so we have to work on this. There is still room for improvement. We didn't get a chance to use the new spec tyres that Bridgestone have brought here. We'll try them out tomorrow and go from there."

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC213V): 4th, 2m, 1.508s "Today we started to work well from the beginning; the track conditions were better than yesterday and it was hotter out there. We've been working on the setting of the bike, focusing mainly on the braking and reducing chatter, to improve the stability on the entry of the corners; that's our main target right now. We made some comparisons between the two chassis' and we will keep working with the bike and see what can we do before choosing. We have one more day, so we'll try some other things with the shocks-this could help-and also different tyre pressures. We will see. I didn't do many laps during the day, but now it's time to test as much as possible and sometimes you have to spend more time in the garage. It's normal. The new Bridgestone tyres are working OK, I just tried one hard on the rear, but I didn't have much grip and the soft ones are working better. Even for the endurance they don't look so bad."

Alvaro Bautista (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC213V): 8th, 2m, 1.933s "The second day of the test has seen us improve our lap times slightly, but above all put together a consistent pace over a series of outings. Today I had more confidence with the bike and I was able to push with more conviction, which I am particularly pleased about. We have tried some things with the electronics and some setting solutions that will give us an idea of what we need to do tomorrow. I am sure that we can improve the bike and my riding significantly. Obviously I need to get used to riding a 'thousand' because it has different characteristics to an 800, mainly in that it has more power and you have to use that in a different way. I have been able to see how professional this team is. They are doing a great job so that gives me confidence for tomorrow, when we will try to take another step forward."

Stefan Bradl (Team LCR Honda RC213V): 11th, 2m, 2.414s "Today has been a full day of work for me and the guys. We made some good steps forward including in our 'to-do' list, suspension regulations, chassis geometry adjustments and some electronics. I found the bike easier to ride and my fastest lap time came early in the morning and I was very pleased with that."