Pedrosa tops final Sepang MotoGP test

Source:AFP-Global Times Published: 2013-2-28 23:43:01

Honda's Dani Pedrosa set the pace on Thursday, the final day of the second MotoGP test at Sepang in Malaysia, while his new teammate Marc Marquez took second on a slippery circuit.

The gap between the two Spanish riders was just 0.081 seconds and the pair edged out their traditional Yamaha rivals, Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi.

After heavy overnight downpours, top riders including Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Marquez and Rossi earlier in the day had a chance to test their bikes' handling on a damp track on wet weather tires.

Conditions vastly improved in the afternoon, and Pedrosa took advantage by pushing his bike hard for a total of 57 laps to notch the fastest time of two minutes 0.562 seconds.

Lorenzo, a double MotoGP champion, came in third 0.430 seconds off the pace.

Marquez has been consistently fast since the first pre-season test sessions at Sepang three weeks ago. The MotoGP rookie continued to make impressive progress despite crashing twice in the day. He was unhurt.

Lorenzo's teammate, nine-time world champion Rossi, was fourth at two minutes 1.062 seconds.

Spain's Alvaro Bautista on a Honda was fifth while British Yamaha rider Cal Crutchlow took sixth.

While track conditions this week were a little worse than early in February, Pedrosa said they allowed him to learn more about the bike's performance.

"We did a good test overall. The basics of the bike are quite good," Pedrosa said.

Pedrosa made his debut in 2006 but has never won a world championship for Honda, largely due to injuries. He has been runner-up for the MotoGP title on three occasions.

Lorenzo acknowledged he needed to improve his performance. He said the slippery track also hampered his attempt to set a faster pace than Wednesday, when he topped the timesheet.

"If it had not rained last night, I am sure I could have improved the lap time from yesterday."

Italy's Andrea Dovizioso on a Ducati came in eighth.

"We are slow in the middle of the corner. At this moment we do not have the capacity to fight Honda and Yamaha but I am really happy with how much we have improved with the bike," Dovizioso said.

AFP - Global Times



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