Another day of torrid conditions (33° air/60° track) greeted all the protagonists of the 2005 MotoGP world championship at the Malaysian circuit for the second and final winter test session scheduled for Sepang.

Very little grip and high humidity inevitably conditioned this first day of testing, which saw both Ducati Marlboro Team riders out on the track on their new Desmosedici GP5 machines for further shakedown tests.

Loris Capirossi joined his team-mate Carlos Checa and, despite a high temperature, carried on with the scheduled test programme. The Italian rider completed 54 laps on the new GP5 which had been tested by Shinichi Itoh yesterday, setting a best time of 2m02. 47s.

"Today I lapped pretty good, but I was worn out by the end of the day" declared Loris. "I'm not feeling very well, so I get tired pretty quickly and above all my reactions are a bit slow. However I am quite satisfied because I managed to quickly find something that enabled me to set some good times immediately: now my hopes are high for the next couple of days".

Carlos Checa, who also tested the new GP5, also went well, the Spanish rider finishing the day with a total of 58 laps and a best time of 2m02.56s.  "We worked well and are improving step by step, even though I still have to get into the swing of things" commented Checa. "I tried several different tyres, some with a good potential, others which lasted well. Now my bike has a good balance and we have ahead of us a couple of hard days of work that I want to get the best out of!"

Tester Shinichi Itoh was also on the track today, the Japanese rider completing 58 laps with the Desmosedici GP4 of the Ducati-Bridgestone Tyre Test Team and setting a best time of 2m04.30s. In preparation for his work with the team this season, Itoh tried several different set-ups in order to get to know the behaviour of the bike, which is fundamental for the development of the tyres.

Loris Capirossi, Carlos Checa and Shinichi Itoh will continue to test at Sepang on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 February.