MotoGP Sepang Test 3: Marco Simoncelli shines and tops the test

One of the 2010 rookies has set the fastest time on the final day of the pre-season test at Sepang for MotoGP. Marco Simoncelli took the best time of the last day on the Malaysian track with a 2:00.757 on his second lap of the circuit.

The San Carlo Honda Gresini rider has been very strong in these sessions. Every day he has been close to the front, and today he set the best time, which also makes him the fastest rider over the whole test at Sepang.

Behind him was another Honda, Casey Stoner, who finished just 54 thousandths behind the Italian. The Australian also had his first scare with the bike, as he crashed in the morning session while testing tyres, but fortunately without serious consequences.

Completing the top three was the MotoGP world champion, Jorge Lorenzo, who was not far off the times of Simoncelli and Stoner, just 88 thousandths behind. Everything is very tight heading into the end of the session.

The Mallorcan did not do a race simulation, but he did long runs to verify that his M1 is set up correctly, as well as testing tyres and trying out some new parts, setting his best lap on lap 41 of the 46 he completed today at Sepang.

Fourth was Andrea Dovizioso, who keeps improving. Little by little the Italian has found his rhythm with the Honda and has joined his factory teammates, being the last to dip under 2:01 today, while behind him came Ben Spies and Dani Pedrosa. The Catalan tried many things on his Honda and did not go looking for time, but despite that, with yesterday’s lap time he ranks as the second fastest overall across the test sessions.

Hiroshi Aoyama was seventh, confirming that the Honda have flown at Sepang, while behind them was the first Ducati, Nicky Hayden in eighth place, with Colin Edwards and his Yamaha behind him.

Then came the rest of the red bikes. Tenth was Valentino Rossi, who today tested a completely different setup, followed by Héctor Barberá, Loris Capirossi, Randy De Puniet and Karel Abraham, while Crutchlow and Elías closed out the timesheet.

For his part, Álvaro Bautista did not go out on track today due to a virus that caused him stomach problems, so we were unable to see the Suzuki with the Talavera rider. Nobu Aoki stood in for the young Spanish rider.

Now they have about three weeks to rest before returning to the same venue for the second pre-season test of the 2011 MotoGP World Championship, so once again we wait for the engines to fire up on the Malaysian track.

We will keep a close eye on MotoGP.

Source | MotoGP Official website