MotoGP Testing Picks Up In Sepang
[caption id="attachment_23329" align="alignright"
width="300"] Dani Pedrosa finished with the best time
of the day.[/caption]
MotoGP picked up right where it left off at the end of last season
when the riders took testing to the Sepang International Circuit in
Malaysia.
Dani Pedrosa
finished with the best time of the day, edging in-season rival
Jorge
Lorenzo by a fraction of a second. The top duo is expected to
continue the competition throughout the motorsports
season, where they will be two of the favorites to win the
championship.
"We've spent three months off the bike and the feeling from the
first day [of] testing is positive," Pedrosa told Ultimate
Motorcycling. "... I haven't ridden since the November test in
Valencia, so today has been a first step to getting back on the
pace. We didn't play about with the setup today, but we will move
onto that in the remaining two days of testing."
Rookie Marc Marquez
ended the day in third place, and Valentino
Rossi and Stefan Bradl
rounded out the top five on the first day.
The majority of the teams spent the testing time tinkering with
engines, preparing to acclimate to a new rule that teams can only
use five engines in the entire series. In the coming days, riders
will likely start working on customizing gear and other
pieces of equipment.