Repsol Honda makes clean sweep of Sepang testing

Casey Stoner

The final day in Sepang witnessed an incredible display of speed from all three Repsol Honda riders . Within 10 minutes of the track opening for the final day's testing, Casey Stoner on his first flying lap of the day recorded a time of 2'00.122 – five hundredths faster than his quickest (and top of the day) lap on day two. However, on his next lap, Stoner put in a sub two minute lap of 1'59.665 almost a second quicker than the circuit best lap recorded in 2009, which remained unbeaten for the rest of the session.

Within fifteen minutes of this incredible feat, Dani Pedrosa also lit up the timing sheets as he clocked a time of 1'59.803 – putting the two Repsol Honda riders out of reach from the rest of the pack, while the other Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso was fourth in 2'00.541 – all these times recorded in the first forty-five minutes of the day.

After this virtual qualifying session, the teams resumed the normal testing program.

We had a good day comparing the chassis' again and I'm happy we have made our decision on which one we'll use for the season. We also tried a lot of electronics with engine braking and found improvements in a few areas, and some losses in others so we need to rectify these. The chassis we've chosen always behaves in the way we want it to, no matter what set-up we use, we are also able to adapt it fairly easily. So when we get to Qatar in a few weeks we'll be able to test different set-up's at the same time and get more track time on it. Some changes can be quite time consuming to do, so having the two bikes with identical chassis will be useful. The test here has been very productive for us, we did a long run here today – almost race distance – and gathered some key information. I'm feeling more and more comfortable on the RC212V and I can't wait to get to Qatar". Casey Stoner