Repsol Honda new recruit Casey Stoner ran a stunning final lap to better Valentino Rossi’s best lap time around Sepang Circuit with a sensational time of 2:00.171 to top the timesheets in the MotoGP pre-season hard for a second successive day.
Covering 42 laps for the day, the 2007 world champion bettered Rossi’s time of 2:00.271, which the nine-time world champion recorded previous year on his Yamaha M1 during the last day of the second test meeting in Sepang.
Rossi, however, was not at the circuit to catch that sparkling run by the Australian as the Ducati Marlboro new recruit had skipped yesterday’s sitting due to sickness.
Day Two was also a day that the three-man Repsol Honda team sent a strong message of their meaning to wrest back the world crown as the Australian team-mates – Spaniard Dani Pedrosa and Italian Andrea Dovizioso took second and third spots correspondingly.
Pedrosa clocked the second fastest time of 2:00.229 while Divizioso came in at 2:00.531 around the 5.543km track.
“We had a really good day today. From the start I felt more comfortable with the bike again, like I unspoken the bike a little better,” said Stoner, who switched from Ducati to Honda this year.
