Yamaha Sepang test, day 3 report

Successful Test for Yamaha Factory Racing in Sepang

Texan rider Spies wrapped up his three day test at lunchtime today having completed 32 laps in the morning session. Although the team had kept back four sets of soft tyres for this final day, only two were used in less than ideal conditions to set a faster lap time. Despite this he managed to record his fastest time of 2'00.678, his personal best for the circuit and 0.86 under the pole position time of his team mate Lorenzo from last year's Malaysian Grand Prix race. Lorenzo's final afternoon session was played out in dramatic fashion, the World Champion completing a 20 lap race distance run under dark skies split by forked lightening. The Mallorcan kept a consistent pace throughout, confirming the improvements of his M1 and, as with his team mate, lapping consistently under last year's race times and beating his pole lap of last season's Mal aysian GP race by 0.534 seconds.

Ben Spies Yamaha Factory Racing Rider, 5th, 2'00.678, 32 laps

"It was a productive test, we got through a lot. I had one small mistake but on the plus side we had a lot of stuff we accomplished so it's all good. We still have some work to do obviously but we're not too far off race pace. We need to figure out how to get the bike a little bit quicker for a few laps, definitely for qualifying and the beginning of the race. It wasn't the most ideal conditions today for a quick lap, I did go to put in a few this morning and was pretty pleased with the time. I'm looking forward to a few days rest now in cooler temperatures at home before Qatar! The team have been awesome again, I'm really pleased with

Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Factory Racing Rider, 7th, 2'01.003, 48 laps

"I feel quite tired, after two and a half days of testing I've finished with a long 20 lap run. The results have been quite good, we had a very consistent pace and I was happy to have improved some things with the bike. I think we've made some big steps forward with traction and feel, although we still need to improve our lap time."

Wilco Zeelenberg - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager

"It was a good day today to wrap up, I am satisfied with the results of the long run. Jorge was very consistent and the grip didn't drop that much towards the end, he kept a good pace which is a strong point for him and important that we didn't lose that. Of course we saw our competitors were very fast this morning but it's only the second test of the year, I think Qatar will be a very different story. We've improved the package compared to the last time we were here racing here which was our goal. Of course we have more work to do a nd we will continue to work on it."

Massimo Meregalli - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director

"We've definitely had a good test, we've improved the traction of the bike a lot and also the handling. Compared to the last test Ben's improved by a considerable time so he's quite satisfied with the set up. There is still a gap to the fastest riders but in terms of long runs we are very competitive so we will go to Qatar knowing we can achieve a good result. Jorge found a good set up this afternoon and achieved a really good long run so we have achieved the targets we set before we came here, I am very satisfied with the team and how we have performed."

-source: yamaha