Three Spanish riders led the way during pre-season MotoGP testing in Sepang, although much interest was also being shown in multi-time former MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi, the flamboyant Italian who has made the switch back from Ducati to Yamaha this season.

The long winter wait was finally over as the 2013 MotoGP field took to the track in Sepang for the first official test of 2013.

Reunited Yamaha Factory Racing team-mates Jorge Lorenzo and Rossi were quick to blow off any cobwebs from the winter rest.

Rossi was initially the fastest rider during the majority of the morning session, clearly taking little time to re-bond with the YZR-M1 that has brought him so much previous success.

Reigning world champion Lorenzo was not far behind, the Mallorcan’s typically methodical approach to testing seeing him steadily work through a number of different items that the two were unable to fully test in Valencia at the end of last year.

By the time riding had stopped for the day, Lorenzo had risen to second, just 0.008 seconds from the fastest rider at the circuit so far, Spain’s Dani Pedrosa (Honda), with Spain’s Marc Marquez (Honda) third quickest and Rossi in fourth, less than half a second from the front.

All the riders will be back on track at 10am local time tomorrow and again on Thursday for the final of the three days of the test.

“I’m very happy about the first day of testing with the M1,” said Rossi afterwards.

“After two seasons away I was able to come back on the bike and remember the good feeling I always had with it. I am also happy because I was quite fast from the morning. We worked on the settings to make some improvements and we made some good steps. In the afternoon we started to work on the new parts for the season. It’s just the first test but the potential is high and I am in a good position, I am in fourth place but not far from the other three guys. I am very positive that we can improve over the next few days but I’m happy with the start.”

 

Day One Test Times:

1. Dani Pedrosa ESP Honda (RC213V) 2m 1.157s (Lap 48/49)

2. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha (YZR-M1) 2m 1.165s (57/58)

3. Marc Marquez ESP Honda (RC213V) 2m 1.201s (60/62)

4. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha (YZR-M1) 2m 1.584s (30/56)

5. Stefan Bradl GER Honda (RC213V) 2m 1.789s (43/59)

6. Cal Crutchlow GBR Yamaha (YZR-M1) 2m 1.881s (46/64)

7. Alvaro Bautista ESP Honda (RC213V) 2m 1.981s (52/59)

8. Katsayuki Nakasuga JPN Yamaha (YZR-M1) 2m 2.968s (50/58)

9. Kosuke Akiyoshi JPN Honda (RC213V) 2m 2.972s (46/69)

10. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati (GP13) 2m 3.336s (22/62)

11. Wataru Yoshikawa JPN Yamaha (YZR-M1) 2m 3.456s (14/46)

12. Bradley Smith GBR Yamaha (YZR-M1) 2m 3.460s (53/56)

13. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati (GP13) 2m 3.535s (35/48)

14. Aleix Espargaro ESP (ART CRT) 2m 3.782s (54/58)

15. Randy De Puniet FRA (ART CRT) 2m 4.283s (42/56)

16. Andrea Iannone ITA Ducati (GP13) 2m 4.500s (53/57)

17. Ben Spies USA Ducati (GP13) 2m 5.086s (19/21)

18. Takumi Takahashi JPN Honda (RC213V) 2m 5.154s (68/70)

19. Hector Barbera ESP (FTR-Kawasaki CRT)* 2m 5.469s (37/41)

20. Yonny Hernandez COL (ART CRT) 2m 5.656s (39/50)

21. Karel Abraham CZE (ART CRT) 2m 5.694s (30/54)

22. Danilo Petrucci ITA (Suter-BMW CRT)* 2m 5.753s (27/29)

23. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN (FTR-Kawasaki CRT)* 2m 5.919s (47/48)

24. Claudio Corti ITA Forward (FTR-Kawasaki CRT)* 2m 6.426s (29/38)

25. Michael Laverty GBR (ART CRT) 2m 6.507s (42/43)

26. Lukas Pesek CZE (Suter-BMW CRT)* 2m 7.015s (40/46)

27. Bryan Staring AUS Honda Gresini (FTR-Honda CRT)* 2m 7.044s (33/41)

28. Colin Edwards USA Forward (FTR-Kawasaki CRT)* 2m 8.206s (24/25)

* Control ECU.

Sepang Day Two Times:

1. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda (RC213V) 2m 0.549s (Lap 29/37)

2. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha Factory (YZR-M1) 2m 0.568s (6/52)

3. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda (RC213V) 2m 0.803s (20/34)

4. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha Factory (YZR-M1) 2m 1.038s (20/45)

5. Cal Crutchlow GBR Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 2m 1.311s (31/41)

6. Stefan Bradl GER LCR Honda MotoGP (RC213V) 2m 1.369s (5/31)

7. Alvaro Bautista ESP Honda Gresini (RC213V) 2m 1.729s (18/46)

8. Bradley Smith GBR Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 2m 1.931s (32/40)

9. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Team (GP13) 2m 2.110s (30/51)

10. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (GP13) 2m 2.379s (33/51)

11. Kosuke Akiyoshi JPN Honda Test Rider (RC213V) 2m 2.526s (16/29)

12. Katsayuki Nakasuga JPN Yamaha Test Rider (YZR-M1) 2m 2.701s (10/30)

13. Ben Spies USA Pramac Racing (GP13) 2m 3.002s (22/27)

14. Wataru Yoshikawa JPN Yamaha Test Rider (YZR-M1) 2m 3.156s (6/39)

15. Andrea Iannone ITA Pramac Racing (GP13) 2m 3.169s (15/29)

16. Aleix Espargaro ESP Aspar (ART CRT) 2m 3.251s (29/40)

17. Randy De Puniet FRA Aspar (ART CRT) 2m 3.791s (38/63)

18. Danilo Petrucci ITA IodaRacing (Suter-BMW CRT)* 2m 4.284s (47/48)

19. Takumi Takahashi JPN Honda Test Rider (RC213V) 2m 4.559s (41/44)

20. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Avintia (FTR-Kawasaki CRT)* 2m 4.786s (23/32)

21. Hector Barbera ESP Avintia (FTR-Kawasaki CRT)* 2m 4.989s (15/28)

22. Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB (ART CRT) 2m 5.028s (12/54)

23. Michael Laverty GBR Paul Bird Motorsport (ART CRT) 2m 5.417s (13/31)

24. Claudio Corti ITA Forward (FTR-Kawasaki CRT)* 2m 5.721s (21/22)

25. Yonny Hernandez COL Paul Bird Motorsport (ART CRT) 2m 5.837s (27/36)

26. Colin Edwards USA Forward (FTR-Kawasaki CRT)* 2m 6.205s (22/23)

27. Bryan Staring AUS Honda Gresini (FTR-Honda CRT) 2m 6.898s (22/33)

28. Lukas Pesek CZE IodaRacing (Suter-BMW CRT)* 2m 21.512s (12/14)

* Control ECU.