Rivals still ‘chasing’ Honda in second test

SEPANG, Malaysia, Feb 26, (AFP): Spain’s Dani Pedrosa maintained his dominance of pre-season MotoGP testing on Tuesday as rivals said their machines lagged behind his Honda at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit.

The first day of tests saw Pedrosa clock 2 minutes 01.580 seconds, meaning the three-time MotoGP runner-up has led the pack in pre-season testing after topping the timesheet across the opening session three weeks ago.

Both his rivals on Yamahas, current champion Jorge Lorenzo and nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi, said their team needed to work on acceleration after seeing Pedrosa’s Honda pull away.

“I stayed behind him (Pedrosa) for two or three corners and in acceleration, the Honda is very fast,” said Rossi, who was 0.448 seconds off the pace in fifth.

Lorenzo finished second, sandwiched between his two countrymen on the Hondas, 0.235 seconds behind Pedrosa but 0.127 seconds ahead of rookie Marc Marquez.

The Ducatis of Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden stood at eighth and ninth respectively, over a second off the pace.

Both riders noted problems with turning, and Dovizioso said after trailing Pedrosa for two laps that this was his “main problem”.

“When you go in, it doesn’t continue, it wants to go straight,” the Italian said.

American Hayden added that he faced harshness over bumps but expressed hope that by the first race in Qatar on April 7, “we are not a second, two seconds off.”

However, Pedrosa was guarded despite setting the pace on all the four days of pre-season testing so far, saying “we still have some way to go”.

“We have some things more or less clear for the season, but we’re still deciding yes or no for the hardware. When it’s all set, then I can feel more where I am,” said the 27-year-old, who is gunning for his first MotoGP title.

A hot and sunny Sepang circuit gave way to rain in the afternoon but most of the riders opted against wet laps.

Honda’s Marquez, who turned 20 two weeks ago, said he would do wet tests if rain persists over the next two days, adding they would be his first wet laps since stepping up to the premier-class after winning Moto2 last year.

This second test session at Sepang continues until Thursday.

A third session will be held in Jerez from March 23 to 25 before the opening round of the MotoGP world championship in Qatar under floodlights on April 7.

Meanwhile, Suzuki is ramping up testing as it seeks to return to MotoGP next year, test rider Nobuatsu Aoki said Tuesday, adding that the team’s new bike was performing better than expected.

The 41-year-old, who last raced a full season in 2004, said the Japanese outfit had been testing at home on the Motegi track and plans to head to Barcelona in Spain after the Catalunya Grand Prix in mid-June.

“We are on schedule (for 2014). We just launched a new bike last week. It performed quite good, better than I expected,” the Japanese rider said on the sidelines of pre-season tests at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit.

Suzuki has been planning a return to the premier-class grid since last year after pulling out at the end of 2011, when it ran just one bike in the competition after going winless since 2007.

However Dorna, which runs MotoGP, has reportedly said the grid is already full and Suzuki must come to an agreement with another outfit if none of the teams pull out for next season.

Aoki said he was unaware of any arrangements being made by Suzuki, but noted that while it would be cheaper to join up with an existing team, the manufacturer would want its own setup.

He said a European rider would be joining the Japanese manufacturer soon but declined to name him. “Maybe French, maybe Italian, I don’t know.”

This is the second test session at Sepang, continuing until Thursday, after the first pre-season tests three weeks ago.

A third session will be held in Jerez from March 23 to 25 before the opening round of the MotoGP world championship in Qatar under floodlights on April 7.

Malaysia will host round 15 on Oct 13.