Kato beats Rossi in Honda test

Daijiro Kato put in the fastest time at Honda’s two-day test in Sepang, a tenth of a second faster than Valentino Rossi.

Kato recorded a best of 2:02.8 on the second day, Thursday. But Rossi wasn’t put out by being second best, he said he was concentrating on the bike’s set-up rather than getting the top time.

Kato said the Honda RC 211V was much improved for 2003 – a feeling echoed by Rossi.

Nicky Hayden is starting to come to grips with the new bike after struggling with it on previous tests. He completed 84 laps on the first day but is still not happy with the pace of his progress. ” It’s a little frustrating at times because I want to make progress faster, but it’s coming. I just gotta keep plugging away. ”

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