Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa leads second day of Sepang II Moto GP as Valentino Rossi calls in sick
Repsol Hondas have once again proved themselves the fastest machines on the circuit during the second day of the Sepang II MotoGP, the second official pre-season test of 2011. Dani Pedrosa, Casey Stoner and Andrea Dovizioso are sitting the first three positions
respectively. The test is being held at the Sepang International Circuit in Sepang, Malaysia.
Casey Stoner, who clocked the fastest on the first day, fell to second place after being a fraction of a second slower than his teammate Dani Pedrosa. Dovizioso has also muscled his way to the fore, completing the first trio of Repsol Honda Team for the
day.
Yamaha Factory Racing riders Ben Spies and defending champion Jorge Lorenzo are filling fourth and fifth positions respectively. The rookie of 2010 is proving a real time running man for the title. The top five places are being shuffled between the Hondas
and Yamahas, leaving no space for Ducati to run high. Ducati Marlboro’s Nicky Hayden is hanging in at the tenth place, improving by a fraction of a second from yesterday’s lap time. Ducati Team officials announced that Valentino Rossi was sick and has returned
to his hotel room. He was expected to return for practice by mid-day.
“Yesterday, Valentino had a sore throat and then this morning he woke up with a fever,” A Ducati spokeswoman told the media. “Many other people in the team are also sick. Valentino is not at the track now. He has gone back to the hotel and might try to ride
this afternoon, but we will have to see.”
Cal Crutchlow of Monster Yamaha Tech3 was also said to be sick yesterday when he arrived at Sepang via flight. Still, he managed to run yesterday. Though he was caught in an accident, he is still running at 15th place today.
1) Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 2:00.229
2) Casey Stoner Repsol Honda Team 2:00.342
3) Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team 2:00.531
4) Ben Spies Yamaha Factory Racing 2:00.824
5) Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Factory Racing 2:00.931
6) Marco Simoncelli San Carlo Honda Gresini 2:01.160
7) Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2:01.738
8) T2Yamaha Test Team 2:01.792
9) Alvaro Bautista Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2:02.150
10) Nicky Hayden Ducati Marlboro Team 2:02.208
11) Hiroshi Aoyama San Carlo Honda Gresini 2:02.403
12) Hector Barbera Mapfre Aspar Team 2:02.505
13) Loris Capirossi Pramac Racing Team 2:02.624
14) Karel Abraham Cardion AB Motoracing 2:02.676
15) Cal Crutchlow Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2:02.984
16) Toni Elias LCR Honda MotoGP 2:03.186
17) Randy De Puniet Pramac Racing Team 2:03.283
18) T1 Yamaha Test Team 2:03.306
19) Noburu Aoki Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2:05.474
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