Ukawa beats Rossi’s record in Sepang test

Tohru Ukawa broke the Sepang lap record on Tuesday, day two of Honda’s latest test, as record holder Valentino Rossi sat at home waiting to resolve his contract dispute with Honda.

Ukawa clocked a best time of 2.05.39 at the Malaysian circuit on the RCV four-stroke to better absent Rossi’s two-stroke lap record by 0.2s.

Ukawa looked in terrific form, logging 71 laps.

He said: “I’m very happy, very happy today. Everything ran just fine. We were testing tyres and some small modifications but I wasn’t looking for a lap record.

Daijiro Katoh was second quickest on the day, getting into his stride on board the 2002 NSR500 V4.

Having missed much of the first day because of tropical cloudbursts, he was only 0.5s adrift of Ukawa. World number three Loris Capirossi was only one tenth further back.

Dutch rider Jurgen van den Goorbergh spent a frustrating day on the sidelines as his NSR was still in bits after a crash on the opening day. The damage was so extensive that his team hasn’t had time to repair it.