Rossi and Hayden picked up the pace despite the rainy conditions at the Malaysian circuit, thanks to better track conditions in the morning and focused effort in the early laps of the day.
For the second day running, poor weather conditions affected the MotoGP™ Test at Sepang International Circuit with rain falling shortly after midday. Though the rain stopped in the afternoon, the track remained wet and the Ducati Team was forced to suspend much of their work and wait for tomorrow’s final day of testing.
Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden carried out a number of tests with the electronics today, with both riders reporting positive first impressions and pacing faster than the day before.
Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 5th, 2:01.748 (18 laps):
"The weather hasn’t been kind to us. With my condition, maybe I wasn’t going to be able to do many more laps anyway, but we have a lot of stuff to try. It was definitely cooler today, with more rubber on the track, and we went faster. We made a couple of small steps and I would say today was the most competitive I’ve been all year. I like the changes to the electronics, especially at the first touch of the throttle. We talked about going out in the rain, but the risks seemed to outweigh the rewards. I look forward to tomorrow. Hopefully we can put together all the pieces we’ve learned and do some good lap times."
Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 7th, 2:02.130 (18 laps):
"Another day practically lost, which is really a shame because for us it’s very important to ride as much as possible, and today's track conditions were much better than yesterday's. Given that we knew rain was predicted for the afternoon, we tried to focus as much work as possible in just the first twenty or so laps this morning. Using both bikes, we tried the new traction control, some software updates with the wheelie control and other small details that have to do with the seating position. I had good impressions with all of those, so we put it all into the setup of just one bike and put on a new tyre, only for it to start raining. Game over. On the plus side, I had a good feeling with all of the new stuff, so I hope we can work a little longer tomorrow."
source: MotoGP Official
