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Stoner back in the saddle as Spies gives him a fright on Day 2 of Sepang MotoGP tests

CASEY Stoner was back in the saddle as he showed why he was still a force to be reckoned with as Ben Spies threatened to upstage him briefly on the penultimate day of the official MotoGP tests today.

The day saw Stoner back in action after the Australian pulled a muscle in his back yesterday morning, forcing him to miss the first day of testing. The Repsol Honda rider allayed the fears of the fans when set a quickest time of 2’00.895 before Yamaha Factory Racing rider, Ben Spies produced a sensational performance at the death to wrest control of the lead with a time of 1:58.150

But it was to no avail as Spies’ time was corrected to 2:01.052 leaving the Australian in no doubt as the leader of the second session. Had the American’s time stood, he would have left Sepang with the record of setting the fastest lap time, overtaking 7 times MotoGP winner, Valentino Rossi’s, 2:00.518 set 3 years ago.

Overnight leader, Jorge Lorenzo followed a close 0.173s behind with Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow setting the fourth best fastest time on lap 32 with 2:01.565. Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa  rounded out the top five closing after finishing 0.001s behind

Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden spent the morning trying new parts on the Ducati Team’s all new GP12, with the Italian setting his fastest lap on the latter part of the day with a 2:01.886 for a respectable sixth place.

Rookie and Moto2 World Champion Stefan Bradl on the LCR Honda, improved on his 11th place today, to finish in 10th with a time of 2:02.414.

Sepang International Circuit Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Razlan Razali who was watching the exciting action unfold, said that SIC was proud to be one of the venues for the official pre-season testing for MotoGP and expressed hopes that Dorna – the MotoGP rights holder – will continue to extend this privilege for years to come.

“We are proud to be one of the circuits to be accorded the privilege of hosting the official pre-season testing. This is one of the benefits of Malaysia being a promoter for the MotoGP race for 22 years.

“All the MotoGP riders, factory teams are here for the first testing session of the season. They will be using this test session to prepare themselves for the new season.

“I hope that Dorna will continue to have their testing in Malaysia for many years to come. As it is the winter season in Europe, the decision to hold the testing in Malaysia is welcomed by all as it gives the teams and riders to indulge in the beautiful weather while getting down to some serious work on their bikes,” added Razlan.

In conjunction with the MotoGP pre-season test session in SIC, the main grandstand will be opened for fans to watch it for free while enjoying special early bird ticket promotion for the 2012 Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix. Additional to that, for every MotoGP ticket purchase during the testing session, fans are entitled to a 50% discount on 2012 Formula 1 PETRONAS Malaysia Grand Prix hillstand tickets from as low as RM30.

“For the final day, we will continue to open the Main Grandstand for Malaysian fans to come and see their idols in action. There will no charge and fans could take advantage of their trip to buy the discounted tickets from as low as RM40 for MotoGP race on the 21st to 23rd October, and a special 50% discount on hillstand tickets for F1. Fans get to enjoy both international events such as F1 and MotoGP for less than RM100.” said Razlan.

Testing calendar:

MotoGP
- Sepang 1 MotoGP, 31/01-02/02
- Sepang 2 MotoGP, 28/02-01/03
- Jerez 1 MotoGP, 23/03-25/03

Moto2/Moto3
- Valencia Moto2/Moto3, 08/02-10/02
- Jerez 1 Moto2/Moto3, 16/02-18/02
- Jerez 2 Moto2/Moto3, 19/03-21/03