Day Three of testing at Sepang has concluded, leaving many on the factory prototype-side of the garage pleased with their week’s work. Once again, Honda is setting the pace, as Casey Stoner sent a message to the rest of the paddock as he smashed the lap record at Sepang aboard his Honda RC213V. A full half-second faster than his nearest competitor, Stoner is an Aussie on a mission already in the season.
“I’m still not feeling great with my back, but the bike is ok, so we’ve made progress in reducing the chatter a little more and trying a few different things, some small settings on the shock that we haven’t tried before amongst other points,” said Stoner. “So far it’s been pretty positive, we’ll just have to wait and see what we have for the next test and hopefully improve a little more. Now I’m looking forward to getting home to Switzerland to see Adriana and await the arrival of our baby!”
While Casey was busy with his usual tricks, the Ducati Corse camp seemed to be making progress with the team’s factory Ducati Desmosedici GP12. With Thursday cut short by a rain storm, Valentino Rossi and his crew were happy with where the GP12 is headed in its development. However for teammate Nicky Hayden, the week has been frustrating. Because of his still broken shoulder, the American has only been able to complete a handful of laps at Sepang, leaving the rest of the testing duty to Ducati test rider Franco Battaini.
“The two Hondas and the two Yamahas are still ahead of us, but we consider this test to be a starting point,” explained Rossi. “The most positive things we’ve achieved are that the front now lets me ride a little more as I’m able, that the bike reacts well to changes and that we have very clear ideas on what’s still missing….We have to keep improving, so we’re not getting too excited, but I’m pleased with how things have gone so far.”
With Jorge Lorenzo splitting the two Honda riders today, Yamaha Racing is still very much in the hunt for a good start to the 2012 MotoGP Championship. Both Lorenzo and teammate Ben Spies have looked strong at Sepang, though both agreed throughout the week that the electronics on the Yamaha YZR-M1 need further development. With almost a month before MotoGP returns again to Sepang to test again, the tuning fork squad has plenty of time to work on their 0′s and 1′s.
“I’m really, really satisfied, I have improved on my best record here in Sepang,” said Lorenzo. “We tried a lot of things; some have been a lot better, especially one major improvement. We also know where we have to improve in the future. The electronics are not perfect yet, we still need to make it smoother but the bike has so much potential we are very optimistic. The Yamaha engineers have worked really hard so they have done a good job. I made my best time today at midday which is the hardest time with the conditions so it was pretty good. Let’s see what we can do when we come back.”
Test Results from Day 3 at Sepang, Malaysia:
| Pos. | Rider | Team | Time | Diff. | Diff. to Leader | Laps |
| 1 | Casey Stoner | Repsol Honda Team | 1:59.607 | - | - | 21 |
| 2 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha Factory Racing | 2:00.198 | +0.591 | +0.591 | 35 |
| 3 | Dani Pedrosa | Repsol Honda Team | 2:00.256 | +0.058 | +0.649 | 26 |
| 4 | Ben Spies | Yamaha Factory Racing | 2:00.495 | +0.239 | +0.888 | 16 |
| 5 | Valentino Rossi | Ducati Team | 2:00.824 | +0.329 | +1.217 | 42 |
| 6 | Hector Barbera | Pramac Racing Team | 2:00.929 | +0.105 | +1.322 | 40 |
| 7 | Cal Crutchlow | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 2:01.108 | +0.179 | +1.501 | 26 |
| 8 | Andrea Dovizioso | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 2:01.257 | +0.149 | +1.650 | 40 |
| 9 | Alvaro Bautista | San Carlo Honda Gresini | 2:01.384 | +0.127 | +1.777 | 34 |
| 10 | Nicky Hayden | Ducati Team | 2:01.729 | +0.345 | +2.122 | 19 |
| 11 | Stefan Bradl | LCR Honda | 2:01.894 | +0.165 | +2.287 | 38 |
| 12 | Karel Abraham | Cardion AB Motoracing | 2:02.218 | +0.324 | +2.611 | 38 |
| 13 | Katsuyuki Nakasuga | Yamaha Factory | 2:02.334 | +0.116 | +2.727 | 27 |
| 14 | Franco Battaini | Ducati Team | 2:03.033 | +0.699 | +3.426 | 35 |
| 15 | Colin Edwards | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | 2:04.722 | +1.689 | +5.115 | 36 |
| 16 | Ivan Silva | Avintia Racing | 2:08.225 | +3.503 | +8.618 | 41 |
| 17 | Robertino Pietri | Avintia Racing | 2:09.640 | +1.415 | +10.033 | 16 |
| 18 | Jordi Torres | Avintia Racing | 2:10.184 | +0.544 | +10.577 | 29 |
Ducati Corse Testing at Sepang – Day 3
Yamaha Racing Testing at Sepang – Day 3
HRC Testing at Sepang – Day 3
Source: MotoGP; Photos: Ducati, HRC, & Yamaha
If these CRT times are any indication of what the season is going to look like….
I like Nicky’s front brake guard.Wesby could have used one at Daytona last year.
Speaking of CRT’s, I’m not sure it’s a good idea to have moving obstacles for the real machines and pilots to have to avoid. It would be a bit like the asteroid scene in The Empire Strikes Back…
Nicky’s brake guard is a camera I think. CRT’s are going to improve for sure. Won’t be any worse than Elias last season being between 2.5 and 4 secs off the pace depending on the track. Dorna will for sure restrict the top factories some how?
Bryan says:
CRT’s are going to improve for sure.Dorna will for sure restrict the top factories some how?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If u(teams) can’t take the HEAT stay OUT of the kitchen.
And i meant that BOTH WAYS.
CRT’s too slow ? Take it like a man, improve the breed or die trying…or GTFO and cry like a biotch on the shower.
Factory Bikes too fast ? Speleta coming down with SOME BULL MANURE ON THEM to try and level the playing field…GET THE HELL OUT AND LET’S SEE HOW THAT GOES FOR HIS BALD ASS…I bet he wasn’t a happy camper when Kawi and Susook walked away from his “preciou$$$$$” event.
There’s already an event called SuperBike…it would be like having a SECOND version of the same…sponsors walking out, MONEY WALKING OUT…etc, etc, etc….(^_^)
This is MOTO GP, where everyone brings their A1 Game and must have the will to “kill”(win one way or another by all means necesary)…not some “let’s all get along and play nice and help those in need and with less” kiddy shit.
Don’t try to choke those with the means and the brains to keep it frisky. Bald MOFO.
Nicky’s brake guard is not a camera, it’s a brake lever guard. Pretty sure it’s something like this… http://www.rizoma.com/en/products-bikes-lines/l:105/proguard-system.html
Those are brake guards mandatory in GP racing for 2012… remember the incident between Simoncelli and Barbera on the final lap of the Muggelo GP?? Anyways hopefully the CRT’s improve quickly cause the factory teams are quick!! Nice to some rear wheel slides again!!!
Are the brake guards to prevent damage in a crash or to stop locking with another rider ala gibernau/capirossi 2006?
Does anyone know the name of the photographer and or photographers? These shots are awesome i want to know what equipment they’re using.
Bryan, they’re to prevent the brake levers accidentally being hit if two riders are banging bars.
CrankyHippo, which photos? It’s a different photography company for each of the OEMs.
Its easy to talk about what MotoGP ought to be when you are not the one writing the checks. As much as I love the full out prototypes, for now, they are too expensive to develop and field given current economic conditions. If the costs are not reduced, there just won’t be any bikes on the grid. I hate it, but it is reality…
Geez MikeD,
I think you have a little more going on than MotoGP…
Maybe you are right, and they should scrap the series and just run WSBK since they own both. Leverage all the assets out of MotoGP then bankrupt them. Zero prototype racing, production only…
Or why bother bringing more manufacturers into the fold, just run the Honda vs Yamaha MotoGP series since no other manufacturer seems to be on the verge of competing financially with those two, though it seems Honda might be the only one standing. Why not just make it a Honda cup like Moto2. Everyone on the same bike, no excuses, Skill vs Talent vs Ambition… Moto2 is more fun to watch anyways…
Sorry man, don’t to share your world view, I’d rather they try to make this one work…
I FIGURED IT OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know how DORNA can even up the CRT bikes and the GP bikes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Different race lengths!!!!! Prototypes 30 laps, CRT bikes 20 laps…………..ready GOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not sure if it's as you were in #MotoGP or an interesting season – http://t.co/5mlR8gig – well done, #Ducati though
@Westward:
No no, is quite alright… i tend to come across as black or white…no grey for me…wich what i usually strive for…I do understand that sometimes i go OFF ON A ROLL , LMAO…but is alright…that’s why i always come around here, cause i know someone eventually will come up with a “grey answer” and then we can take it from there…case in point…your reply.
Is C00L man…we cool. (^_^)
Better any bikes than NO BIKES…slow or fast…they are needed. I just hope “the others” don’t get their chops busted because the “Special Ed Bikes” can’t keep up the pace…YET.
@John:
U bring good points to the table…let’s see where it all goes.
Personally, im more for SuperBike…just cause it’s more related to the hardware u can walk out the dealership door with. Just a preference…nothing else. (^_^)
MotoGP is a huge dilemma right now, 3 factories compared to 6 in WSBK plus KTM most likely to join next year and possibly someone may take up Yamaha’s slack, potential 8 manufactures. MotoGP just drains money. And CRT does nothing to help motorcycle sales either, there’s no connection to public. It is in fact a problem Dorna will need to figure out. It’s evident that money is a huge problem in GP racing with many riders already losing rides for not bringing in money. If WSBK was marketed and the online interface was like MotoGP, it’d be the No.1 series (as in more viewers).
The protoype thing works in F1 with chassis designers and engines mixing it up. But these teams have all had major sponsorship. No CRT team has a massive world known sponsor. Fact of the matter is, the car market is much more mundane to people than bikes.
Motorcycle prototype racing is cool but it doesn’t make sense anymore. Remember back in the day GP racing was not really prototypes. You could buy the bikes at the dealer. It evolved into prototype racing which I’m afraid does not work. Unless Suter, Kalex et al begin making bikes for the public…
WSBK is just as prototype as MotoGP, with BMW and Aprilia both racing before selling to public to develop their bike. Which essentially is racing a prototype and then selling it on the showroom floor and hey guess what, it worked. Even in this dismal economy people bought S1K all over the world and it progressed and set a new bar in the 1000cc class. That is what it should be about.
People can argue MotoGP developed new electronics that has trickled down to street bikes etc. Truth is the WSBK bikes electronics are just as advanced as MotoGPs. Interviews with ex-GP riders in WSBK all say the same thing. It was probably more WSBK doing than MotoGP doing getting it down to public.
I personally think Ducati/Honda/Yamaha shouldn’t spend so much effort in GP if the series doesn’t improve and just focus on the developing the 1199/CBR/R1 and making those a winner. If Honda actually ran a factory team in WSBK it’d be up there as well. And we already seen how Yamaha’s R1 can win.
The sound of GP bikes and how exotic and loud they are I think is a big draw. I think they should have no noise and exhaust restrictions in WSBK and those bikes will sound just as good as the GP bikes. Another thing, hold WSBK races in more parts of the world and I bet it’d be No.1
@SBPilot:
+1 IN ALL of the above.
MotoGP machinery is AWESOME…no two ways about that…but just as awesome as it is is just as distant and dislocated from the general buying public…I too think SuperBike makes for a better event, after all…u could always buy one “1000″ pretty close to the “real deal” where on MotoGP…KEEP ON dreaming.JMHO.
@Jensen Beeler Any of the photos really, maybe the honda ones more then the others cause i’m a honda guy, but they’re all stunning. They remind me of Darren Heaths photos from F1, he was on TWiT Photo and it was awesome to hear his story about F1.