British rider Cal Crutchlow stole the show at the end of three rain-affected days of MotoGP testing sessions here on Monday, posting the fastest time on his Yamaha Tech3.
Yamaha MotoGP rider Cal Crutchlow of Britain powers his bike on the first day of the pre-season motorcyling test at the Sepang circuit outside Kuala Lumpur on February 5, 2013. Crutchlow stole the show at the end of three rain-affected days of MotoGP testing sessions here on Monday, posting the fastest time on his Yamaha Tech3.
Crutchlow, seventh in the world championship last year, timed a best of 1min 39.511sec, faster than the two official Yamaha bikes ridden by defending champion Jorge Lorenzo and Italian great Valentino Rossi.
Crutchlow was 14thousandths of a second faster than Rossi, who is returning to Yamaha after a disappointing spell with Ducati, and 29thousandths quicker than Lorenzo.
Crutchlow was delighted with his series of testing which is the last before the first MotoGP of the season in Qatar on April 7.
"I feel good," said the 27-year-old.
"It is a shame that I couldn't do 70 laps on a dry course over three days but to ride at this rhythm is good news," added Crutchlow, whose bike is powered by French stable Tech3.
Honda lead rider Dani Pedrosa opted not to risk training on Monday.
"We (Pedrosa and Honda) reckoned that in these conditions, and even if the track began to dry, we have nothing more to test for," said Pedrosa, who has yet to win a MotoGP world title having finished runner-up three times.
"Apart from that I had a painful back and I preferred to have some rest," added the 27-year-old Spaniard.
Times (fastest taken from all three sessions):
1. Cal Crutchlow (GBR/Yamaha Tech3) 1min 39.511sec, 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA/Yamaha) at 0.014sec, 3. Jorge Lorenzo (ESP/Yamaha) 0.029, 4. Dani Pedrosa (ESP/Honda) 0.119, 5. Stefan Bradl (GER/Honda LCR) 0.464, 6. Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda) 0.619, 7. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA/Ducati) 0.811, 8. Andrea Iannone (ITA/Ducati Pramac) 0.820