Things happening in Sepang..

First the times sheet..

then we've gone from this..

to this..

Well lookey lookey who is at the top of the sheet

I knew this would happen!

and today timesheet:

[J.P]

I reckon I could do those times.

[J.P]

Sorry, just realised that's not 2 hrs it's 2 minutes !

[utopia]

Its a bit early to read too much into the times, but I notice that Rossi only did 30 laps yesterday where most people did twice as many. I guess that says the shoulder isn't quite ready yet. Hayden was faster. And I believe there are some fairly major chassis mods due to arrive for later tests. Given that, it all seems to be going to plan so far.
Nice to see Ben Spies in the top few. Hardly surprising, though. I'd back him for a top three championship finish this year...he has ALL the credentials for alien status, imo.

New Ducati colour scheme is growing on me. Should be more black on Rossi's bike though, I reckon.

Things seems to be going in the right direction..
1 Marco Simoncelli San Carlo Honda Gresini 2:00.757
2 Casey Stoner Repsol Honda Team 2:00.811 +0.054 42
3 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Factory Racing 2:00.845 +0.088 46
4 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team 2:00.945 +0.188 51
5 Ben Spies Yamaha Factory Racing 2:01.002 +0.245 60
6 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 2:01.241 +0.484 44
7 Hiroshi Aoyama San Carlo Honda Gresini 2:01.353 +0.596 63
8 Nicky Hayden Ducati Marlboro Team 2:01.534 +0.777 60
9 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2:01.651 +0.894 32
10 Valentino Rossi Ducati Marlboro Team 2:01.842 +1.085 52
11 Hector Barbera Mapfre Aspar Team 2:02.030 +1.273 42
12 Loris Capirossi Pramac Racing Team 2:02.057 +1.300 48
13 Randy De Puniet Pramac Racing Team 2:02.159 +1.402 57
14 Karel Abraham Cardion AB Motoracing 2:02.645 +1.888 29
15 Cal Crutchlow Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2:02.717 +1.960 44
16 Toni Elias LCR Honda MotoGP 2:02.916 +2.159 55
17 T1 Yamaha Test Team 2:02.965 +2.208 41
18 Kousuke Akiyoshi HRC Test Team 2:03.452 +2.695 3
19 T2 Yamaha Test Team 2:03.621 +2.864 32
20 Noburu Aoki Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2:04.700 +3.943 46

So, after 3 days we can have some ideas of where the Ducati are: the 3rd day results put them on par with the best of the 1st day times: not too bad considering the all-new bike(this isn't just an evolution of last year machine, like the Yamaha) and a new rider used to a completely different bike set-up. to put things in perspective last year pole was 2:01.513 and race fastest lap 2:02.117.
All in all I don't think is as bad as a 10th position would suggest as there are 10 riders in just over a sec.

[crust]

Originally Posted by Pomp1

All in all I don't think is as bad as a 10th position would suggest as there are 10 riders in just over a sec.

Got to love you for your optimism and blind loyalty

yay, he beat all the privateers and unknown test rider, he's best of the rest.

[SunEye]

Valentino Rossi's opinion on his physical condition was "My mobility has improved a lot, and I no longer think my physical limitations cost me a second; let’s say I lose five or six tenths, especially on braking and in corner entry."

His opinion of the lap times he was putting in was "In any case, the overall evaluation of the Test is definitely good; today we’re a second off the top riders, and also in the afternoon, riding with race tyres, the distance stayed around seven or eight tenths."

To me that says that a fully fit Rossi thinks he'll be about 2 tenths of a second behind the fastest bike. It's a pity that he doesn't think he'll be fully fit until May. Until he is fully fit he won't be able to provide feedback about how the bike behaves when he's riding at 100% of his physical ability. At that point I expect the bike to improve a bit more.

Although Rossi won't win the world championship this year I suspect he'll get a few race wins in the second half of the season.

[buzzbomb]

Oh yeh of little faith..

I'm with you Max...

Never rightoff Vale...

BTW I've not seen Gerry the magician in any pics...

[J.P]

He might be a second off the pace, but the other riders could all crash...