Today brought to a close the third and final day of testing in Malaysia for the MotoGP factories and the few Claiming Rule Teams that were able to attend.  The day, fittingly and much to the dismay of CBRVFR, ended with reigning World Champion Casey Stoner at the top of the time sheets with a 1:59.607.  The consensus around the paddock is that everyone is happy to be back aboard their bikes and excited to learn their new teams and bikes.  Click through to take a look at the final roster and rider statements.

Casey Stoner  ”It’s been a good test in general, we only managed two out of the three days unfortunately but the weather has been really good to us and we’ve been able to do what we planned. The day I missed hasn’t affected us too much and we’ve managed to complete our testing programme, to be honest I think track conditions on the first day weren’t that great anyway as the lap times were not so fast.

I’m still not feeling great with my back but the bike is ok, so we’ve made progress in reducing the chatter a little more and trying a few different things, some small settings on the shock that we haven’t tried before amongst other points. So far it’s been pretty positive, we’ll just have to wait and see what we have for the next test and hopefully improve a little more. Now I’m looking forward to getting home to Switzerland to see Adriana and await the arrival of our baby!”.

Dani Pedrosa  “Three days testing here in Malaysia is very tiring. This morning when I woke up I was pretty sore and stiff, but once I got running I was a little bit better. Anyway, it’s been worth it to do a general test of the engine, chassis and tyres and overall it is the biggest test we have done on this bike and we have good data to analyse and can start to build up points we need for the second test.

As I said yesterday, the biggest point to improve is on braking, and we are also working on the electronics to improve the management of the power and the grip level. The chatter is still there, I know it’s something very difficult to fix, but I’m sure Honda is working hard on it. In general, it’s been a positive test for us and we will come back here in three weeks with new ideas.

This bike is physically more demanding, you feel the power in the acceleration, the speed under hard braking and also the extra weight, but it’s alright. I will keep working hard physically to prepare for the second test”.

Jorge Lorenzo  “I’m really, really satisfied, I have improved on my best record here in Sepang. We tried a lot of things; some have been a lot better, especially one major improvement. We also know where we have to improve in the future. The electronics are not perfect yet, we still need to make it smoother but the bike has so much potential we are very optimistic. The Yamaha engineers have worked really hard so they have done a good job. I made my best time today at midday which is the hardest time with the conditions so it was pretty good. Let’s see what we can do when we come back.”

Ben Spies  “It’s been a good test, we’ve got a lot of things accomplished, we’re definitely moving in the right direction with my bike. I tried the Yamaha test rider’s bike today which had a slightly different set up to make a fair comparison with mine. I made a small mistake, losing the front but that’s testing; it can happen when you’re working out the good and bad! All in all it’s been great and I’m really happy and looking forward to coming back and seeing what’s new.”

Valentino Rossi  “We on the team are all happy with how this test has gone, especially today. With a 2:00.8, we’re starting to get to a decent time. The two Hondas and the two Yamahas are still ahead of us, but we consider this test to be a starting point. The most positive things we’ve achieved are that the front now lets me ride a little more as I’m able, that the bike reacts well to changes and that we have very clear ideas on what’s still missing. In particular, if we manage to improve the bike’s behaviour on acceleration, we’ll be able to take a consistent step forward. I know that the work has never stopped at Ducati, and now with the information we’ve gathered, they’ll keep working on the areas that we’ve identified. That might take a while, but there’s still some time before the first race. We have to keep improving, so we’re not getting too excited, but I’m pleased with how things have gone so far.”

Nicky Hayden  “Obviously, I’d like to have done more. I can’t really say it was a real test for me, but I did a few laps each morning in order to at least get a feel for the new bike, get a little data and understand a couple of things. Even in that limited time, I was able to make small improvements and go quicker each day. Ducati did an amazing job with this bike in a short amount of time. It’s smoother than any other Ducati I’ve ever ridden, it looks slick and it’s good to work on. It’s got good power, and the front end is working well, but with the extra power, now we’ve got to find better rear traction at the first touch of the throttle. With the few adjustments we’ve made, everything seems to be going in a good way, so now I just need to get healthy.”

Alvaro Bautista  “The first test is over and we come away with a positive feeling. I took another step forward today, improving my rhythm more than anything, and overall we have done a good job and established a good feel for the RC213V. Now we have a little time before the next test here at Sepang to process the information we have gathered here over the last three days. We need to get everything right for the next visit to Malaysia but I am happy, satisfied and confident about the future. The relationship with the team and with Honda is great and this will help us achieve results. I have to say the most impressive thing about the RC213V is the electronics, which delivers the power in such a linear and progressive way that you can really make the most of the 1000cc.”

Cal Crutchlow  “This was a very important test to get used to the new 1000cc YZR-M1 and thankfully the weather was in our favour and we could get in a lot of laps to understand the early potential of the bike. The 1000 seems to suit my style a little better and I have to say that Yamaha has done a very good job and we are already working from a strong base. The bike feels quite similar to the 800 YZR-M1 but Yamaha has managed to keep the strong points of this year’s bike. You can immediately feel the extra horsepower, which is impressive, but I’m happy because I could keep a very consistent pace. I’m looking forward to the winter break now. I learned a lot in my first season in MotoGP that will help me be much stronger in 2012. I’d like to thank all my Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew for their efforts this year. They’ve given me their maximum support and I am grateful for that.”

Andrea Dovizioso  “Firstly I want to thank the Tech 3 staff for making me feeling immediately welcome and at home this week. I’ve been really excited to start this new adventure together and it was a positive and productive test. This test was my first chance to ride the 1000cc bike and the power of the engine is very impressive. The riding style is very close to 800cc and the bike has a lot of good points for my style. There are some areas I have identified we can improve for the next test in Sepang and I gave a lot of important feedback that should help Yamaha improve the bike during the winter break. Now I will take a break to recharge the batteries and return in Sepang looking forward to getting back on the bike and carrying on the positive work we did here in Valencia.”

We’ll keep adding the statements as they trickle in, meanwhile have a look at some photographs from the test.

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