Sepang MotoGP Test: Stoner Tops Day 2

2012 MotoGP Test

Although he missed out on Tuesday due to pulling out his back while stretching, Casey Stoner quickly returned to his MotoGP-Championship winning ways, topping Wednesday’s test at Sepang International Circuit.

The Australian, who debuted the Number 1 on his Repsol Honda RC213V Wednesday, set the fastest time of the day by lap 19. The time? A Sepang-shredding best lap of 2:00.895 as Stoner compared chassis on two RC213V MotoGP prototypes.

Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda RC213V MotoGP) says: "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 tire 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 tires that Bridgestone have brought here, we’ll try them out tomorrow and go from there."

But not too far behind was Yamaha Factory Racing’s Ben Spies; the American, who spent the 37 laps smoothing out the YZR-M1’s electronics and power delivery, trailed Stoner by 0.157 of a second.

Spies’ MotoGP teammate, Jorge Lorenzo, was only 0.016 behind the Texan; Lorenzo, who topped the times on Tuesday, also worked on the YZR-M1’s electronics and power delivery.

Stoner’s MotoGP teammate, Dani Pedrosa, was fourth fastest. While setting up the chassis on his Repsol RC213V, the Spaniard posted a quickest time of 2:01.508 during 35 laps.

Within 0.057 of a second behind Pedrosa was Monster Tech 3 Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow, who was re-acquainting himself with the M1. He was followed a tenth of a second back by Pramac Racing Ducati’s Hector Barbera, who spent the day solving a chatter issue aboard the GP12.

Next up was Valentino Rossi; the Italian spent the day experimenting with new parts aboard the GP12, and posted a 2:01.886; Rossi was the last MotoGP rider within a second of Stoner.

Alvaro Bautista claimed the eighth fastest time, just 0/047 of a second behind Rossi. He was followed by the Italian Andrea Dovizioso on the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha.

The American Nicky Hayden posted the 10th fastest time aboard the Ducati GP12. Hayden didn’t complete all the test laps on the GP12, though, the Kentuckian still recovering from shoulder injury sustained while flat-track training over the winter break.

The Moto2 Champion, Stefan Bradl, took the 11th spot aboard the LCR Honda, the MotoGP rookie followed by Karel Abraham on the Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati.

Colin Edwards was once again the quickest rider aboard a CRT; while experimenting with electronic setup aboard the NGM Mobile Forward Racing Team CRT, Edwards posted a 2:05.603, 4.708 behind Stoner.

Avintia Racing was not able to complete the day of testing due to issues with the engines in their BQR-FTR machine. Rider Ivan Silva completed just 16 laps with test riders Robertino Pietri and Jordi Torres making a handful of rounds each, MotoGP reports.

The testing wraps up Thursday with the third and final day at Sepang International Circuit.

2012 MotoGP Test Results: Sepang, Day 2 (Wednesday, Feb. 1):