Suzuki's Loris Capirossi has finished day one of the Sepang MotoGP test at the top of the timesheets, fending off Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi and Marlboro Ducati's Casey Stoner.
The diminutive Italian was quicker than Rossi's race record from last season on a heavily-revised GSV-R800, sticking in a 2'01.869 lap on his last time out. It was a tenth faster than Stoner's quickest time. Capirossi appeared wearing standard Suzuki leathers, giving rise to speculation the Rizla deal is a dead duck.
Rossi and Stoner had been fighting it out for the top spot earlier in the day (click here for story) with Rossi falling at turn two in the morning and Stoner taking advantage.
Capirossi's team-mate Chris Vermeulen was fourth fastest, just under a second slower than the Italian, with Ducati's Toni Elias rounding out the top five.
Final times:
1 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA 2:01.869 - - 37
2 Casey STONER AUS 2:02.038 +0.169 +0.169 34
3 Valentino ROSSI ITA 2:02.324 +0.286 +0.455 31
4 Chris VERMEULEN AUS 2:02.803 +0.479 +0.934 55
5 Toni ELIAS SPA 2:02.886 +0.083 +1.017 52
6 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA 2:03.088 +0.202 +1.219 50
7 Colin EDWARDS USA 2:03.254 +0.166 +1.385 34
8 Dani PEDROSA SPA 2:03.312 +0.058 +1.443 44
9 Sete GIBERNAU SPA 2:03.750 +0.438 +1.881 54
10 Jorge LORENZO SPA 2:03.894 +0.144 +2.025 61
11 Nicky HAYDEN USA 2:04.002 +0.108 +2.133 60
12 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM 2:04.396 +0.394 +2.527 53
13 Mika KALLIO FIN 2:04.405 +0.009 +2.536 60
14 James TOSELAND GBR 2:04.502 +0.097 +2.633 34
15 Randy DE PUNIET FRA 2:04.882 +0.380 +3.013 61
16 Yamaha Test JPN 2:05.024 +0.142 +3.155 47
17 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN 2:05.098 +0.074 +3.229 73
18 Yamaha Test JPN 2:05.140 +0.042 +3.271 44
19 Niccolo CANEPA ITA 2:05.270 +0.130 +3.401 45
