Rossi takes advantage of dry track to post fastest time on day three

Added on Friday, February 5th, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor

Valentino Rossi was again the fastest man in Sepang today, lapping close to four tenths of a second faster than the rest of the field on the final day of testing in Sepang.

After posting a quickest time of 2:01.411 yesterday, the world champion took nearly half a second off that time to lap at 2:00.952, well ahead of title rivals Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo.

Following a wet start following early morning rain, circuit conditions steadily improved to leave a dry track by 1pm local time in Malaysia, with Rossi the last rider remaining on track at 1:15pm.

Testing was extended by one hour until 6pm following the morning rain but a further downpour in the afternoon brought an early close to the session.

Ben Spies on the Tech 3 Yamaha was one rider who particularly impressed, with the rookie posting the fifth fastest time of the day ahead of teammate Colin Edwards. Dani Pedrosa also improved on yesterday’s eighth fastest time to finish fourth quickest.

Sepang Test: Day Three times:

Pos	Rider	Nat	Team	Time
1	Valentino Rossi	ITA	Fiat Yamaha	2:00.952
2	Casey Stoner	AUS	Ducati Marlboro	-0.395
3	Jorge Lorenzo	SPA	Fiat Yamaha	-0.755
4	Dani Pedrosa	SPA	Repsol Honda	-0.897
5	Ben Spies	USA	Monster Tech 3 Yamaha	-1.341
6	Andrea Dovizioso	ITA	Repsol Honda	-1.347
7	Colin Edwards	USA	Monster Tech 3 Yamaha	-1.554
8	Nicky Hayden	USA	Ducati Marlboro	-1.568
9	Aleix Espargaro	SPA	Pramac Ducati	-1.722
10	Loris Capirossi	ITA	Rizla Suzuki	-1.838
11	Marco Melandri	ITA	San Carlo Gresini Honda	-1.885
12	Hector Barbera	SPA	Aspar Ducati	-2.107
13	Randy de Puniet	FRA	LCR Honda	-2.118
14	Hiroshi Aoyama	JAP	Interwetten Honda	-2.270
15	Marco Simoncelli	ITA	San Carlo Gresini Honda	-2.320
16	Alvaro Bautista	SPA	Rizla Suzuki	-2.349
17	Mika Kallio	FIN	Pramac Ducati	-2.434