Suzuki top at Sepang

Suzuki proved the surprise package at the second day of the major Sepang MotoGP test today, with Rizla men John Hopkins and Chris Vermeulen finishing top two.

Hopper set a best time of 2:02.73 in a day which saw him rack up 58 laps in good conditions, the new Suzuki also setting the fastest speed trap times of the day. Vermeulen was 0.1s back.

Yamaha’s Colin Edwards was third quickest 0.18 off Hopkins, while icky Hayden’s time for fourth fastest was a clear second adrift of the front – with talk of alarm bells ringing at Honda about the performance of the new RC212V.

Hayden’s team-mate Dani Pedrosa is not at the test, instead recovering from an arm operation.

Of the other top men, Toni Elias wads fifth, Carlos Checa sixth in his first Honda RCV test, Olivier Jacque seventh, Makoto Tamada eighth, and Tady Okada ninth on a testbed RCV.

Unofficial Lap Times (800cc Bikes)

John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki, 2’02.77

Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki, 2’02.78

COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Yamaha, 2’02.91

Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda, 2’03.74

Toni Elias (SPA) Honda, 2’03.87

Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda, 2’04.08

Makoto Tamada (JPN) Yamaha, 2’04.65

Tadayuki Okada (JPN) Honda Test Rider, 2’05.70

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