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--  MotoGP 2013 - Sepang Test - Day One --  Track temperature: 38 degrees - Ambient temperature: 30 degrees Day One Test Times: 1. Dani Pedrosa ESP Honda (RC213V) 2m 1.157s (Lap 48/49) 2. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha (YZR-M1) 2m 1.165s (57/58) 3. Marc Marquez ESP Honda (RC213V) 2m 1.201s (60/62) 4. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha (YZR-M1) 2m 1.584s (30/56) 5. Stefan Bradl GER Honda (RC213V) 2m 1.789s (43/59) 6. Cal Crutchlow GBR Yamaha (YZR-M1) 2m 1.881s (46/64) 7. Alvaro Bautista ESP Honda (RC213V) 2m 1.981s (52/59) 8. Katsayuki Nakasuga JPN Yamaha (YZR-M1) 2m 2.968s (50/58) 9. Kosuke Akiyoshi JPN Honda (RC213V) 2m 2.972s (46/69) 10. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati (GP13) 2m 3.336s (22/62) 11. Wataru Yoshikawa JPN Yamaha (YZR-M1) 2m 3.456s (14/46) 12. Bradley Smith GBR Yamaha (YZR-M1) 2m 3.460s (53/56) 13. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati (GP13) 2m 3.535s (35/48) 14. Aleix Espargaro ESP (ART CRT) 2m 3.782s (54/58) 15. Randy De Puniet FRA (ART CRT) 2m 4.283s (42/56) 16. Andrea Iannone ITA Ducati (GP13) 2m 4.500s (53/57) 17. Ben Spies USA Ducati (GP13) 2m 5.086s (19/21) 18. Takumi Takahashi JPN Honda (RC213V) 2m 5.154s (68/70) 19. Hector Barbera ESP (FTR-Kawasaki CRT)* 2m 5.469s (37/41) 20. Yonny Hernandez COL (ART CRT) 2m 5.656s (39/50) 21. Karel Abraham CZE (ART CRT) 2m 5.694s (30/54) 22. Danilo Petrucci ITA (Suter-BMW CRT)* 2m 5.753s (27/29) 23. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN (FTR-Kawasaki CRT)* 2m 5.919s (47/48) 24. Claudio Corti ITA Forward (FTR-Kawasaki CRT)* 2m 6.426s (29/38) 25. Michael Laverty GBR (ART CRT) 2m 6.507s (42/43) 26. Lukas Pesek CZE (Suter-BMW CRT)* 2m 7.015s (40/46) 27. Bryan Staring AUS Honda Gresini (FTR-Honda CRT)* 2m 7.044s (33/41) 28. Colin Edwards USA Forward (FTR-Kawasaki CRT)* 2m 8.206s (24/25) * Control ECU. The first day of MotoGP™ testing was a close-fought affair with the top seven riders within almost eight tenths of each other, while the top three of Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo and rookie Marc Márquez were less than four hundredths apart, with Italian Valentino Rossi showing he has not lost his spark. As teams set out to put in track time to bed in their new or upgraded bikes they were fortunate with the weather as the forecast rain did not appear, giving riders a full day’s worth of running. And it was Repsol Honda Team’s Pedrosa who put his RC213V top with a 2:01’157 late in the day as he set out to test the latest evolution of the bike, in particular focussing on longevity of the engine. Yamaha Factory Racing’s Lorenzo, who holds the record for the fastest lap at the circuit from 2012 with a 2.00’334, had a final push with his new Yamaha, featuring a different chassis and upgraded engine, and got within 0.008 seconds of his compatriot. The upgraded machine is set to cure pumping and give better acceleration out of corners. Yamaha and fans alike got their first real glimpse of Valentino Rossi back on the Japanese machine, with the Italian not disappointing with a time just over four-tenths off Pedrosa in fourth. He stated he was “very happy” with the Yamaha, sighting that he felt comfortable from the first lap. However, the story of the day was arguably Pedrosa’s teammate Marc Márquez, who was only 0.036s slower than Lorenzo, putting himself third, and increasing his credentials as one of the favourites this year. It does however look like LCR Honda MotoGP’s German Stefan Bradl, who is running a RC213V with the same spec as the HRC team in Valencia last year, will also have a say this year, after ending the day in fifth, just two tenths off Rossi. He was working on a raft of things from traction control, to suspension and brakes. Behind him was Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Brit, Cal Crutchlow, who improved steadily across the day, on board his 2012 machine. And rounding out the top seven was Go & Fun Honda Gresini’s Álvaro Bautista, who continued his quest to find the best set-up with his Showa suspension, finishing 0.824s off the top. Yamaha test rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga and HRC test rider Kosuke Akiyoshi put in good performances to make the top ten, in front of Ducati Team’s American Nicky Hayden, who kicked off the team’s new era by finishing tenth, over two seconds off Pedrosa though, in front of Yamaha test rider Wataru Yoshikawa. Tech 3’s British rookie Bradley Smith was getting used to his machine, ending the day in twelfth, around 2.3 seconds off the front, in front of Ducati’s Italian hopeful Andrea Dovizioso, and the Power Electronics Aspar Team of Spaniard Aleix Espargaró and Frenchman Randy de Puniet. Pramac Team’s Italian rookie Andrea Iannone made steady progress on his Desmosedici making it into 16th by the end, ahead of US teammate Ben Spies, who put in a few hours on his new Ducati this morning, although had to stop due to shoulder pain. HRC test rider Takumi Takahashi headed Avintia Blusens’ Héctor Barberá, who was focussing on electronics, as well as Paul Bird Motorsport’s Colombian Yonny Hernandez, Cardion AB Motoracing’s Karel Abraham, Came IodaRacing Project’s Danilo Petrucci, Avintia Blusens’ Hiroshi Aoyama and NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Claudio Corti. MotoGP™ newcomer Michael Laverty lapped on an ART bike to get used to the Bridgestone tyres and carbon discs, and was followed by Ioda’s new Czech rider Lukas Pesek, Bautista’s Australian teammate Bryan Staring, whilst NGM’s Edwards suffered bike issues and finished the day last, putting in only 25 laps. -- HRC Report Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez began the 2013 MotoGP test season with impressive performances on the first of three days of testing at the Sepang Circuit outside of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Almost as impressive were second year Honda riders Stefan Bradl (Team LCR Honda MotoGP), a close fifth fastest, and Alvaro Bautista, the Spaniard now on the Go & Fun Honda Gresini RC213V. Pedrosa led all comers by blazing to the fastest time on a day of moderate but still warm and humid weather, though the expected afternoon deluge never materialized. That allowed the 2012 MotoGP World Championship runner-up a full day’s testing and he made the most of it. On the same track where he won the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix, Pedrosa clocked the fastest lap of the day, a time 2m, 1.157s, on the 48th of his 49 laps. MotoGP rookie and Moto2 World Champion Marc Marquez was impressive in his third ride on the Repsol Honda RC213V, not only for his speed but also his durability. The young Spaniard completed 62 laps of the 5.548k circuit; his best time of 2m, 1.201s came on lap 60. Marquez admitted to being nervous having not ridden since a test here last November, but it didn’t show. He spent considerable time at the top of the charts and it took the best of two veterans, Pedrosa and world champion Jorge Lorenzo, to take him down to third, and then not by much; his time was only .044s off the benchmark set by Pedrosa. Such was the strength of his debut that it drew accolades from all of his senior rivals. Bradl also put in a full day’s work thanks to what he considered optimal conditions. The 2011 Moto2 World Champion altered his training routine over the winter to improve his fitness. Today he was fast both early and late and on the pace to the very end. His fastest lap put him only .632s behind Pedrosa, which he put to both his fitness and the preparation of the team, which now had a year’s experience with the LCR Honda MotoGP RC213V. Bradl spent much of the day getting reacquainted with the speed of the Honda, while working with a variety of rear suspension settings. His goal for the 2013 season is to be better on used tyres near the end of the races and he began that process today. Bautista was less than .2s behind Bradl in seventh place after his 59-lap day on the Go & Fun Gresini Honda RC213V. He attributed his early speed to the conditions and the work put in by the team on the setup of the suspension. With two more days of good weather, Bautista believes he can improve his racing package and continue to ascend the timing ladder. Bryan Staring, 25, had a less successful day in his 2013 debut on the Go & Fun Honda Gresini CRT machine. The Australian MotoGP rookie fell at one point, denying himself and his team valuable setup time as he transitions from the FIM Superstock 1000 Championship. Staring has a steep learning curve-the FTR chassis, the Bridgestone tyres, the carbon brakes, the electronics-but he’s been a quick study in the past. Staring won three FIM Superstock 1000 races last year and also has three titles in his native Australia. The test continues Wednesday and Thursday. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V): 1st, 2m, 1.157s It's the first day back testing after the winter break. We've spent three months off the bike and the feeling from the first day testing is positive. The track was in good condition and we were able to put in a lot of laps at a good pace, thanks to it not being especially hot. I haven't ridden since the November test in Valencia, so today has been a first step to getting back on the pace. We didn't play about with the setup today, but we will move onto that in the remaining two days of testing. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda RC212V): 3rd, 2m, 1.201s I'm very happy with how the first day went, because you always have a few nerves after a couple of months out. I thought that I would take a little longer to get back 'on it', but right from the opening laps I felt very comfortable on the bike. We picked up confidence from the start, although obviously we can still improve. I don't think the result today should be used as a reference point, because we are all trying out new things. I focused on simply finding a good setup and getting comfortable on the bike. I tried to put in a good time so that the day's testing had a purpose. Stefan Bradl (Team LCR Honda RC213V): 5th, 2m, 1.789s I am very satisfied about this first day of test. The weather and the asphalt temperature were perfect and we could easily complete out test program. Thanks to my new winter training I feel more fit un these conditions and I found the guys very motivated and even more technically prepared. Actually, we started our 2013 campaign on a higher level. Today was mainly a test for myself, to get used to the bike again, recover the feeling, feel the throttle and the brakes after a long time off. We combined a lot if things from Öhlins suspension to swing-arm lengths and rear grip feeling. Doubtless there’s more work to do especially on used tyres: I must improve my riding style on used rubber to match my competitors pace during the races and we will focus on this point in the near future. Alvaro Bautista (Go & Fun Honda Gresini): 7th, 2m, 1.981s Being back on track after the long winter break is always nice, but it's challenging because you have to take the right rhythm. Fortunately, the weather conditions here were helpful and it was a lot easier. We worked hard during the day on the setup of the suspension and at the end I was satisfied. Of course, there’s still so much work to do and we have planned for the remaining two days of testing. I'm glad to be back with my team and to have started a new season with them. Bryan Staring (Go & Fun Honda Gresini): 27th, 2m, 07.044s I'm happy to have made my debut in MotoGP, but at the same time I feel sorry for the trivial fall that I had. Unfortunately, I touched the kerb in a corner, lost control and crashed to the ground. Of course, the difference with the bike that I rode previously is significant, but mostly I'll try to adapt my driving style to the power of the Go & Fun Team Honda Gresini CRT. Today we did a good job during the 41 laps and I got on very well with members of the team. I realized that that might be very helpful for my growth in this challenging category. -- Yamaha Report The long winter wait was finally over this morning as the 2013 MotoGP field took to the track in Sepang for the first official test of 2013. Reunited Yamaha Factory Racing teammates Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi were quick to blow off any cobwebs from the winter rest. Rossi was initially the fastest rider during the majority of the morning session, clearly taking little time to re-bond with the YZR-M1 that has brought him so much previous success. Reigning World Champion Lorenzo was not far behind, the Mallorcan’s typically methodical approach to testing seeing him steadily work through a number of different items that the two were unable to fully test in Valencia at the end of last year. By the time riding stopped for the day, Lorenzo had risen to second, just 0.008 seconds from first with Rossi in fourth, less than half a second from the front. Both riders will be back on track at 10am local time tomorrow and again on Thursday for the final of the three days of the test. Jorge Lorenzo - Laps 58, Time - 2'01.165 - “This morning I had to get the feeling again for the MotoGP bike but it didn't cost me so much time as it did last year. When I got up to a good pace we tried some things we couldn't try in Aragon, we need to work on it more. Some parts I liked, some things need more work. Tomorrow we are going to keep trying the things we tried today and also some new parts. Times are very close between Yamaha and Honda so we will try to improve our bike to be even better. We are still working on acceleration, we improved a lot last year but it’s still not our strongest point. I think now at this point consistency is one of my strongest points and I hope to continue that this year.” Valentino Rossi - Laps 56, Time - 2'01.584 - “I’m very happy about the first day of testing with the M1. After two seasons away I was able to come back on the bike and remember the good feeling I always had with it. I am also happy because I was quite fast from the morning. We worked on the settings to make some improvements and we made some good steps. In the afternoon we started to work on the new parts for the season. It’s just the first test but the potential is high and I am in a good position, I am in fourth place but not far from the other three guys. I am very positive that we can improve over the next few days but I’m happy with the start.” Wilco Zeelenberg - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager - “So, we’ve started 2013, our target today was to get the riders into a rhythm. Two and a half months without riding a bike like this is difficult. You have to get into a rhythm and up to speed otherwise you are not able to able to confirm and recognise new materials. We also tried a new engine specification today that was quite interesting. We need to adjust some areas but our target is to improve acceleration. So far we are quite enthusiastic.” Massimo Meregalli - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director - “Today was the first of the three test days; the riders were able to get back into their rhythm after a long break from the season. Unfortunately in November we weren’t able to finalise a few items that were for us very important but today we started to work on fixing that. The weather forecast is quite tricky for tomorrow and the day after but hopefully it will remain dry and we will be able to get all the information we are looking for. On Vale’s side he was able to understand today that he still has the speed, I could see he was very satisfied, which for us is a great thing. I think he was really looking for this test because as he said many times he had some doubts to settle. Jorge is pretty satisfied with the first day, he was very motivated and enthusiastic about the new items we tested. We’ll keep working and see how we will finish the test in two days time.” Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team riders Cal Crutchlow and Bradley Smith enjoyed a positive and productive start to the 2013 MotoGP winter testing campaign at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia today. After a successful winter training camp in California, Crutchlow arrived in Kuala Lumpur raring to start his third season in MotoGP and the 27-year-old wasted no time in getting down to competitive lap times. The British rider got his first opportunity to evaluate an upgraded Yamaha YZR-M1 engine today and he also worked on improving his braking technique in hot but dry conditions th at defied forecasts of heavy rain. Crutchlow completed the first day of track action in 2013 with a best lap of 2.01.881, which secured him the sixth best time on a final leaderboard that saw Yamaha's new YZR-M1 occupy three out of the top six places. Today's action presented rookie Smith with the perfect opportunity to build up his experience on board the YZR-M1 and the 22-year-old was able to complete 56 fast and consistent laps that were closing to placing him inside the top 10. Rather than experiment with different settings, Smith concentrated purely on learning more about the riding technique required in MotoGP and acquitted himself superbly to clock a best time 2.03.460. That encouraging pace put Smith ahead of Andrea Dovizioso and only a fraction behind Nicky Hayden's pace, and the 125cc Grand Prix winner is confident he can cut t he gap to the leading group and challenge for a top 10 result in the remaining two days of the test. Cal Crutchlow - Laps - 64, Time - 2'01.881 - “It was good to be back on the bike again after a couple of months away. I'm happy enough because initially it is all about getting the feeling back after a while off the bike. It is difficult for me coming to Sepang because it is not my favourite circuit but I am pleased and it has been a good start. I haven't got too many updates to try on the bike but hopefully I've got some things to try later this week. I've been working more on tweaking my style a bit more today, particularly in the braking area to get the bike stopped better, which was an area I know I have to improve on for this season. It is clear looking at the top of the timesheets that it is going to be a fantastic season in MotoGP. I think any of us that finished in the top seve n today will have a shot at winning a race and I think the fans are going to be treated to some fantastic racing.” Bradley Smith - Laps - 56, Time 2'03.460 - “When I started getting warmed up this morning at 9am and it started raining, my heart sank and I thought it was going to be a Valencia experience all over again. Luckily it didn't last and I got out on track and I am very satisfied with how today went. The idea for this test is to keep it very simple and be consistent, so each time I go out I learn, understand and enjoy it and get some confidence. Each exit from the pits I wanted to get to the lap time I did before and then try and beat it by a little bit. I managed that and for that reason it was a positive start. This test is all about me learning how to ride the M1 rather than worrying about anything else like big set-up changes and we made good progress with every e xit. All we've been doing is trying to make the bike as easy as possible to ride so I can understand the bike, the tyres and how the chassis works. We are keeping the bike very user-friendly just to help me understand the right lines. I'm still using Moto2 lines but being able to analyse Cal, Jorge and Valentino's data is a big help because you can easily see what you are doing good and what you are doing bad. All I'm doing is learning and trying to gain some confidence before we try and make any big steps with changes, which we probably won't until the next test back in Sepang at the end of the month." -- Bridgestone Report Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Hard, Extra-hard. Rear: Soft, Medium, Hard (Asymmetric) Weather: Dry. Ambient 27-30°C; Track 31-37°C (Bridgestone measurement) Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa posted the quickest time on the opening day of the first group test of the 2013 MotoGP season at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit. Pedrosa set his benchmark time of 2’01.157 on his penultimate lap today to finish just eight-thousandths of a second ahead of Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo, while on the other Repsol Honda RC213V, Marc Márquez was third on the timesheets with a best lap time of 2’01.201. All twenty-four riders contesting this year’s MotoGP™ championship, along with four test riders – two each from Honda and Yamaha - took to the track today for a total of twenty-eight participants. Torrential rain over the previous two days and a lack of recent activity at the Sepang circuit meant that track conditions for the opening day were challenging, with some riders remarking that the grip level of the circuit were below average. Although the rain didn’t affect today’s proceedings, the overcast condition did limit track temperatures, with a peak of 37°C recorded in the afternoon, which is unusually cool for this circuit, especially in dry conditions. The mild track temperatures resulted in tyre selection trending towards the softer slick options, with twelve of the twenty-eight riders trying the harder front option and all riders choosing the softer rear options available to them. The cool temperatures also limited evaluation of the experimental slick tyres Bridgestone brought to Sepang to just the CRT teams. All the CRT riders assessed the soft compound rear slick - though only for short stints at this stage – and feedback was generally positive, with a good improvement in rear grip. After a productive opening day at Sepang, evaluation of the new hard option rear slick for the ‘works’ bikes is planned to take place tomorrow, while CRT times will continue to assess the soft rear slick in what are forecast to be similar weather conditions to today. Shinji Aoki - Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department “Following two days of rain which severely affected the CRT ECU test, thankfully today we had fine weather which allowed all the riders to do many laps in dry track conditions. All of the CRT riders tested the softer rear slick which we’ve brought to Sepang for the first time, and their feedback on this specification of tyre was that it offered a good improvement in rear grip. Further testing of this CRT-specific option is scheduled for tomorrow and now that the works teams have had a day to find a base setup, we hope that the weather conditions are warm enough so that we can test the experimental rear slicks featuring our revised hard rubber compounds as well.”

 

- MotoGP World Championship 2012 -

RND 1 - JORGE WINS QATAR	RND 2 - STONER CRACKS JEREZ	RND 3 - STONER TAKES ESTORIL
RND 4 - LORENZO WINS LE MANS	RND 5 - JORGE WINS AT HOME	RND 6 - JORGE WINS SILVERSTONE
RND 7 - STONER WINS ASSEN	RND 8 - PEDROSA WINS SACHSENRING	RND 9 - LORENZO TAKES MUGELLO
RND 10 - CASEY WINS LAGUNA	RND 11 - PEDROSA WINS AT INDY	RND 12 - PEDROSA WINS BRNO
RND 13 - LORENZO PULLS AWAY	RND 14 - DANI BOUNCES BACK	RND 15 - DANI CLOSES THE GAP
RND 16 - SEPANG SPLASHFEST	RND 17 - CASEY WINS

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