Pedrosa remains on top as first test comes to an end

Dani Pedrosa

The first test of 2013 concluded today with Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa maintaining his place at the top of the timing sheet with a time of 2'00.100.

Reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo delivered his trademark consistency from day one, leading the time sheet at times and never straying far from the front. The Mallorcan was under the official race lap record of the Sepang circuit this morning and just a tenth of a second from the official pole record.

He went on to complete a long run this afternoon to wrap up the test. Teammate Rossi continued to go from strength to strength having been reunited with the YZR-M1, the Italian again improving on his time from the day before by nearly half a second to finally dip under the 2’01 mark and finish in third place just over a tenth of a second from teammate Lorenzo in second.

Dani Pedrosa
"We can leave Sepang with a good feeling, because we had good lap times on all three days. We were able to put in a lot of laps and, above all, try out some important things with the engine and the bike weight to adjust to the three kilos more for this season – dictated by the new rules. Today we focused on rear tires, in particular the new Bridgestone hard compound. It is similar to the old one with a little more grip in some areas, but it also creates more chatter. We finished the test well and hope to continue like this in the following ones"

Jorge Lorenzo
“I think these three days have been positive for us. We tried many things and some of them were good. We need to reconfirm again in another track but here we were able to improve a little bit. I was able to make a simulation this afternoon, the first one I’ve done in Sepang in my GP career. I felt strong physically, mentally and riding so it was good. The other riders are also really strong so it promises to be an interesting season."

Valentino Rossi
“I’m very happy, all three days were very good. We worked hard on the bike and improved day by day. The third day was the best, we were able to stay less than half a second from pole position and the lap time is higher which is interesting. Today we finished third in the standings which is theoretically the front row so I’m very happy with this first test."

Testing Results