Pedrosa topped day 1 timesheets as testing returns to Malaysia

Dani Pedrosa topped the timesheets as MotoGP™ pre-season testing resumed in Malaysia on Tuesday. The Repsol Honda Team rider, who had also led all three days of the previous gathering at Sepang, set the pace with a best lap time of 2’01.580 before rain interrupted proceedings shortly after 2:30pm local time. He now hopes for improved weather and full long runs on Wednesday.

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team

Photo by: Hazrin Yeob Men Shah

"We tested a few things on the suspension and also mapping," he explained in a video interview.

"It was harder at the beginning because the track was a little dirty - I guess from yesterday and beforehand when we had heavy rain. But, bit by bit, the track was improving so I guess from tomorrow we should be able to continue with the same things: the suspension and the mapping for corner entry, that’s basically our plan. Hopefully we will also get a long run in."

Teammate and rookie Marc Márquez enjoyed his best testing position yet, moving up to third as the pair of Hondas sandwiched the Yamaha Factory Racing machine of reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo. During the day, the current Moto2™ title holder endured a small incident at Sepang’s final corner, but was able to see the funny side.

"I’d done a lot of laps on that set of tyres and then got to the slowest corner on the circuit," he smiled. "It was quite strange because I started to loose the front, but it made it look like the bike had actually stopped! I fell off the bike, picked it up and continued…so I only lost about ten seconds. It was quite strange!"

Márquez’s personal best effort came in the form of 2’01.942, less than four tenths of a second off the top spot. Just under three weeks ago, the younger of the pairing had wrapped up proceedings half a second slower than Pedrosa.

Repsol Honda