Sepang: Rain stops Stoner as well

Thursday, 02 February 2012 11:52 by Matteo Aglio

While poor weather in Italy forced Ferrari to postpone the presentation of their latest Formula 1 machine, the typical Malaysian tropical downpour had the decency to hold off until the final minutes of the MotoGP test, barely disturbing the work being carried out. Many riders had already called it a day, but the rain did bring proceedings to a definitive halt, sealing Casey Stoner's spot atop the timesheets. The Australian actually recorded his time on only his second lap of the day, taking advantage of the cool morning temperatures to go well below the 2 minute barrier. Second fastest Jorge Lorenzo came close, but couldn't quite get under the mark, while third quickest Dani Pedrosa fell three tenths short. American Ben Spies, fourth fastest on the day, was the only other rider to finish within one second of Stoner.

Valentino Rossi eventually went fifth fastest, concluding his test with best lap 1”217 slower than the leader. More encouraging is his gap of just 6 tenths to the second fastest rider, especially considering the newness of the GP12 project. A surprising sixth fastest was fellow Ducati rider Hector Barbera, the Spaniard getting within two tenths of Rossi, despite using an older version of the Desmosedici.

Next in line were the Yamaha Tech 3 pairing of Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso, the latter still feeling the effects of his recent shoulder injury. The slowest of the full time prototype riders was Karel Abraham, while the CRT machines occupied the last four places in the standings. Colin Edwards again finished with a gap of roughly 5 seconds to the leaders, while the BQR machines didn't fare nearly as well, all over 8 seconds off the pace.

Sepang Test Day 3 Final Results:

1. Casey Stoner (Honda) 1’59.605 (giri 2/21)

2. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 2’00.198 (giri 18/35)

3. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 2’00.301 (giri 3/26)

4. Ben Spies (Yamaha) 2’00.495 (giri 15/16)

5. Valentino Rossi (Ducati) 2’00.824 (giri 11/42)

6. Hector Barbera (Ducati) 2’00.929 (giri 6/40)

7. Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) 2’01.108 (giri 2/26)

8. Andrea Dovizioso (Yamaha) 2’01.257 (giri 10/40)

9. Alvaro Baustista (Honda) 2’01.384 (giri 8/34)

10. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) 2’01.729 (giri 8/19)

11. Stefan Bradl (Honda) 2’01.894 (giri 6/38)