Rossi leads the way in Malaysia

From motogp.com

Valentino Rossi was the fastest MotoGP rider in the first practice session at Sepang on Friday with a best time of 2:02.724 on his Fiat Yamaha M1 machine.

The Italian, who sealed last year’s title in Malaysia, was just over a tenth of a second clear at the top of the timings as he started his weekend in promising style.

"It's been another good start for us here and we found a good setting straight away. I am feeling very comfortable on the bike and so far my shoulder is okay here,” said Rossi. “The track is quite dirty but that will get better and I love riding at this track, it's one of my favourites and I am always happy to be on the bike here. We are confident that we will be able to make some more improvements tomorrow and be in good shape to try for the front row tomorrow afternoon."

The characteristically hot and humid conditions at Sepang (ambient temperature 38ºC, track 54ºC for the session) made achieving good grip a struggle for all, and Rossi’s Team Manager Davide Brivio said Saturday’s second session would prove important in tire selection.

"It's nice to start the weekend at the front again and this was a good session, with Valentino fast from the beginning. It seems he has a good pace here but of course it's only the first session and we have more work to do,” he said. “The track isn't in great condition; it's quite slippery at the moment but this will improve throughout the weekend.

“Tomorrow we will work on our Bridgestone tire choice and fine-tune the setting ahead of qualifying."

Andrea Dovizioso had led the session but his best time of 2:02.833 left the sole Repsol Honda rider for this weekend in second position, as he continued to show the kind of form which secured him his first premier class pole in the previous round.

“I’m happy with this first session at Sepang because we were fast from the very beginning of the practice period,” said the Italian, who admitted that the ambient temperature and humidity measuring 37 percent had proven tough to handle. “Today the conditions were really extreme in terms of the heat - even more than we’re accustomed to here - so physically it was very hard.

“We started from a good base today however. We will continue work on set-up improvements and adjustments to the electronics to increase the stability at the front end under braking. But I think we have found the limit of the tires in these conditions. I will also try to adapt my riding style to make further improvements to the lap time tomorrow. Overall we made a good start today.”

Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo, who could take the title this weekend with a finish of ninth place or higher in the race, was third in the session and the final rider under 2:03.

Lorenzo battled with grip issues that also affected his fellow MotoGP riders, but was happy with how he felt on his M1 machine.

"Today conditions were quite difficult, with the high temperatures and a dirty track,” said the 23-year-old. “I'm happy though because I felt good on the bike, I rode fast and I was close to the first position.

“We rode with the old engine again today but maybe we will try the new one tomorrow. We need to work on the fourth sector, which is where we're losing time at the moment, so tomorrow we will concentrate on that and try to improve further.

“The most important thing is to finish the race. You will see me riding calmly, but it’s difficult because I always give the maximum!”

At 0.436 secs. off Rossi’s pace Casey Stoner was fourth in the practice. The Ducati rider had a crash 10 minutes into the session when he lost the front end of his Desmosedici GP10 at turn four, but he was back on track shortly after.

Álvaro Bautista’s final lap of the session slotted the Rizla Suzuki rookie into fifth position in an encouraging step up, with Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards completing the top six.

The top 10 on Friday also included Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team), Aleix Espargaró (Pramac Racing), Ben Spies (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda).

The MotoGP riders return to action at 9:55am local time on Saturday for the second practice.

Alex de Angelis was the quickest rider in the first Moto2 practice at the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix on Friday, with a best time of 2:09.586.

Halfway through the one-hour session there were spots of rain on track and the majority of riders spent a large period of the second half in their team boxes as a storm passed. At that stage the top five was De Angelis, Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing), Toni Elías (Gresini Racing), Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar) and Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up) and the order did not change for the remainder of the session.

De Angelis and Redding did however improve their respective times when they re-emerged towards the end of the session. Redding ended the hour at 0.188 secs. off the pace of De Angelis, with Elías, Simón and Iannone all within three-tenths of a second of the British rider.

Marc Márquez picked up where he left off in the previous round of the 125cc World Championship as he set the best lap time of the opening practice at the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix. The Red Bull Ajo Motorsport rider’s fastest effort of 2:14.274 left him almost four-tenths clear of second quickest Pol Espargaró.

The Tuenti Racing rider’s session got off to a difficult start when he had a crash at turn 11 inside the opening 10 minutes, but it failed to affect his confidence as he eventually timed in at 2:14.650.

The only other rider to get within a second of Márquez’s time was Championship leader Nico Terol (Bancaja Aspar) who was 0.510 secs. off the lead time.

MotoGP Practice Results
1. Valentino ROSSI (ITA) Fiat Yamaha 2:02.724
2. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (ITA) Repsol Honda 2:02.833
3. Jorge LORENZO (SPA) Fiat Yamaha 2:02.898
4. Casey STONER (AUS) Ducati 2:03.160
5. Alvaro BAUTISTA (SPA) Rizla Suzuki 2:03.338
6. Colin EDWARDS (USA) Monster Tech 3 Yamaha 2:03.393
7. Marco MELANDRI (ITA) San Carlo Gresini Honda 2:03.438
8. Aleix ESPARGARO (SPA) Pramac Ducati 2:03.471
9. Ben SPIES (USA) Monster Tech 3 Yamaha 2:03.477
10. Randy DE PUNIET (FRA) LCR Honda 2:03.539
11. Marco SIMONCELLI (ITA) San Carlo Gresini Honda 2:03.680
12. Loris CAPIROSSI (ITA) Rizla Suzuki 2:03.717
13. Hector BARBERA (SPA) Paginas Amarillas Aspar Ducati 2:03.760
14. Hiroshi AOYAMA (JPN) Interwetten Honda 2:03.769
15. Nicky HAYDEN (USA) Ducati 2:03.947
16. Mika KALLIO (FIN) Pramac Ducati 2:04.023