1.1 seconds covers entire field at second Sepang MotoGP test

Bridgestone’s second Sepang pre-season test concluded today; fine weather allowed teams to test dry weather tyres after extended inclement weather on Tuesday and Wednesday prevented as much slick compound testing as they would have liked. Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner was the fastest rider, setting a 2:00.473 lap on a combination of the hard front and medium rear tyres. Teammate Dani Pedrosa and Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Andrea Dovizioso were next fastest. Shinji Aoki, manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department, said he had been “pleased with the performance of the 2012 specification tyres” during the testing sessions.

“Tyre durability is very important at Sepang and I was encouraged at how the tyres performed during the longer runs as there was very little variation in lap time which indicates that the grip characteristics of the tyres over their operating life are quite predictable.
 
“We also continued evaluation of the experimental front tyre we introduced at the first Sepang test and overall the rider feedback on all the 2012 spec tyres continues to be very positive. We leave Malaysia having successfully completed our testing programme so I would like to thank all the teams and riders for their support during this time.”

Bridgestone also said the total gap of 1.1 seconds among the fastest laps recorded by the eleven riders comprising the factory and satellite Honda, Yamaha and Ducati teams was the event’s most telling statistic. Meanwhile, Colin Edwards cut the gap to the prototype bikes drastically, setting a best time 3.2 seconds shy of Stoner’s benchmark.
 
Bridgestone’s tyre development programme now heads to Europe where it will supply tyres and engineers for both the private CRT test at Aragon on 8-9 March and the final pre-season test of the year at Jerez from 23-25 March.

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