Pictures from Sepang
Added on Saturday, February 6th, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor
Pictures from Sepang
The MotoGP riders got the first opportunity of 2010 to try out their new machines for the coming season in Sepang this weekend, with Valentino Rossi taking the early bragging rights.
The Italian took full advantage of the dry conditions towards the middle of day three to post a time of 2:00.952, well ahead of the chasing pack.
The likes of Casey Stoner and Lorenzo were in hot pursuit of the champion when the regular riders were let loose on day two but couldn’t get near to his pace on day three before the heavens opened in the afternoon to end the session. For the full breakdown, read our reports of day two and day three.
As usual, with the new riders and new bikes on show, the cameras were out in force and this is what they saw.
Casey Stoner was the second quickest but couldn’t match the champion.
His Ducati teammate Nicky Hayden put in a performance to build upon.
Fellow American Ben Spies also impressed on day three.
There were some new faces on show in the MotoGP class, including Suzuki’s Alvaro Bautista.
Others, such as Marco Melandri, had simply switched bikes.
Some, like Dani Pedrosa, had changed numbers.
Little has changed for his teammate Andrea Dovizioso however.
Jorge Lorenzo will be looking to build on his title challenge last year.
One Italian veteran, Loris Capirossi, performed well on day two.
But it was Valentino Rossi who stole the headlines again.
