Reigning MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi set the fastest pace of the pre-season testing on Thursday in Malaysia.
The Italian set a lap time of 2min 1.068 seconds, half a second slower than his best time of 2min 0.518sec set last year when he clinched his seventh MotoGP championship title last year at the Sepang International Circuit.
Rossi was in the fast lane from the moment he launched onto his favourite circuit on his 2010 MotoGP YZR-RI race bike which was unveiled early February. He completed 47 laps.
Three weeks after the first official test of the year here, MotoGP riders returned to Sepang to continue the development of their respective prototypes, ahead of the start of the World Championship season in Qatar on April 11.
The final session on Friday will offer valuable time for the team riders to further the customisation of their 2010 machines.
Rossi is expected to use the testing period to work on new aspects of the settings on his bike.
The second-fastest time was set by Ducati rider Casey Stoner at 2min 1.219 sec followed closely by Andrea Dovizioso of Honda at 2min 1.631 sec. Stoner completed three laps while Dovizioso did 52 laps.
Rossi's team-mate Jorge Lorenzo of Spain will not be testing as he continues his recovery from a hand injury. Lorenzo fractured his right hand in a motocross accident shortly after the first test of 2010.
Lorenzo is expected to be back in action during the final pre-season test, at Qatar on March 18-19. The first round of the 2010 MotoGP season is also at Qatar, on April 11.
(AFP)