Day two of the MotoGP testing at Sepang, and Casey Stoner has clearly recovered from his back injury that prevented him from fully testing yesterday – Ben Spies had been the early leader, but Stoner topped the timesheets with a with a 2m00.895s lap, and only needed 29 laps to do it in.

Full times from Day 2 of MotoGP testing at Sepang:
1. Casey Stoner Honda 2m00.895s 29
2. Ben Spies Yamaha 2m01.052s + 0.157s 37
3. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 2m01.068s + 0.173s 40
4. Dani Pedrosa Honda 2m01.508s + 0.613s 35
5. Cal Crutchlow Tech 3 Yamaha 2m01.565s + 0.670s 42
6. Hector Barbera Pramac Ducati 2m01.788s + 0.893s 50
7. Valentino Rossi Ducati 2m01.886s + 0.991s 44
8. Alvaro Bautista Gresini Honda 2m01.933s + 1.038s 46
9. Andrea Dovizioso Tech 3 Yamaha 2m02.160s + 1.265s 42
10. Nicky Hayden Ducati 2m02.354s + 1.459s 41
11. Stefan Bradl LCR Honda 2m02.414s + 1.519s 41
12. Karel Abraham Cardion Ducati 2m02.598s + 1.703s 66
13. Katsuyuki Nakasuga Yamaha 2m02.941s + 2.046s 40
14. Franco Battaini Ducati 2m04.311s + 3.416s 38
15. Colin Edwards Forward Suter-BMW 2m05.603s + 4.708s 37
16. Ivan Silva Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 2m10.297s + 9.402s 16
17. Jordi Torres Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 2m11.893s + 10.998s 2
18. Robertino Pietri Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 2m12.546s + 11.651s 5

The times from day one of the MotoGP 2012 Sepang test are in, with Jorge Lorenzo claiming the top spot with a lap of 2:01.657.

Lorenzo headed the timesheets all day, and was closely followed by Dani Pedrosa in second place. Crutchlow took third, with Spies in fourth.

Valentino Rossi finished the day in fifth position, 0.735s behind his former team-mate Jorge Lorenzo.

Reigning World Champion Casey Stoner opted to sit out most of the test after suffering with a back injury.

Colin Edwards was the fastest of the CRTs, but the gap was significant and he ended the session 6.6s off the pace set by Lorenzo.

Full times from day 1 of the MotoGP Sepag test below:

01 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Factory Racing 2:01.657 – - 30
02 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 2:02.003 +0.346 +0.346 48
03 Cal Crutchlow Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2:02.221 +0.218 +0.564 32
04 Ben Spies Yamaha Factory Racing 2:02.234 +0.013 +0.577 28
05 Valentino Rossi Ducati Team 2:02.392 +0.158 +0.735 43
06 Andrea Dovizioso Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2:02.751 +0.359 +1.094 20
07 Hector Barbera Pramac Racing Team 2:02.773 +0.022 +1.116 41
08 Katsuyuki Nakasuga Yamaha Factory 2:02.829 +0.056 +1.172 32
09 Alvaro Bautista San Carlo Honda Gresini 2:02.869 +0.040 +1.212 45
10 Nicky Hayden Ducati Team 2:03.151 +0.282 +1.494 33
11 Stefan Bradl LCR Honda 2:03.668 +0.517 +2.011 44
12 Karel Abraham Cardion AB Motoracing 2:03.781 +0.113 +2.124 45
13 Franco Battaini Ducati Team 2:04.986 +1.205 +3.329 35
14 Casey Stoner Repsol Honda Team 2:07.163 +2.177 +5.506 4
15 Colin Edwards NGM Mobile Forward Racing 2:08.240 +1.077 +6.583 21
16 Jordi Torres Avintia Racing 2:10.671 +2.431 +9.014 42
17 Ivan Silva Avintia Racing 2:11.267 +0.596 +9.610 12

None of that is confirmed, and this is the press release that Ducati have released concerning the test – read it below:

For the final day of a three-day test at Mugello, Valentino Rossi joined the Ducati Test Team to work on developing the 2012 race bike. In doing so, he utilized the sixth of eight days during which factory riders may participate in such outings.

The Italian was kept busy trying an updated electronics package and chassis, turning a total of 82 laps in conditions that were sunny but not overly hot. Rossi had a fall on the exit of the Scarperia-Palagio section during the third lap of his first outing in the morning, but it didn’t affect the team’s work, which continued until 6:30 p.m.

Filippo Preziosi and Vittoriano Guareschi were in the garage to follow the test, and official test rider Franco Battaini, who had ridden the two previous days, was with Rossi on the track. “It was an interesting day, although it was also quite long, because we rode until 6:30,” Rossi said after the test. “Developing a bike requires a lot of focus and effort, but it’s also very exciting and fulfilling to be part of a group of people pushing as hard as it can in the same direction. Today we confirmed various aspects of the GP12’s electronics and chassis, collecting a lot of useful information for Filippo and the guys in the factory. I think that the work is well underway as we prepare for our next steps.”

This is the third test on the GP12 machinery for the factory Ducati team (Rossi and Hayden did a day each in Jerez earlier in the year), and Rossi and Filippo Prezioso felt that it was a “positive” test for the team.

Rossi did 60 laps in the session, and then work was continued by a test rider.

Mugello has recently been resurfaced, so Rossi was able to get a head-start on understanding the new surface before he returns in a few weeks for the 2011 Mugello MotoGP – when the excitement and expectation of the Italian fans will be more rabid than usual as Rossi races in Italy on Italian bike.

Valentino Rossi:
“I’m pleased, because it was a positive test. We took full advantage of the time we had, because the track and weather conditions were perfect. I liked the new asphalt a lot. The surface is smooth, those holes that I knew so well are now gone, and the grip is fantastic. I must say they’ve done a great job, because if it’s possible, riding here at Mugello is now even better than before. I’m happy to have come back here to test after my injury last year, because it was a nice feeling and a good day. We started around 11:00 this morning, and we completed sixty laps in all—many kilometers without any problems, either physical or with the GP12. We tested everything that Filippo had planned to try, and we’re satisfied because, although we’re still at a pretty early stage, we’re going in the right direction.”

Filippo Prezioso
“We completed our second day of testing the GP12 with Vale. I must say it’s a strange sensation, but also a really nice one, to be here at Mugello with Valentino, on a track where we’ve been rivals so many times in the past. We worked on the electronics and various other updates to next season’s bike, some of which were made following the requests that Vale and Nicky had given us during their first outing with the bike about a month ago at Jerez. It was a useful and positive test that will enable us to continue with the development of the GP12, which has some new details coming soon. Working with Valentino is always very nice from a technical perspective, and we were lucky with the weather, as we had perfect conditions. Vale also really appreciated the new asphalt: we have to compliment the folks at Mugello, because they really did a great job.”

The improvement was largely attributed to a new chassis that the Rizla Suzuki team were testing on their GSV-R. The positive test result means that Suzuki have already made the decision to run with the new chassis at the French MotoGP at Le Mans in 2 weeks time.

Álvaro Bautista:
“My leg was really sore today – as I expected – but it was good enough to do four laps at a time and I really wanted to understand this new chassis, so I have to forget the pain and do some work, this is the life of a racer! Anyway, I am happy I tried it because – at least at this track – the step was quite big. The turning of the bike is improved a lot, this means I can open the gas much quicker and improve my corner speed and acceleration. The lap-time came a lot more easily with this chassis and when I followed Lorenzo, who was making low 1.38 at this point, we were really similar on the whole lap until we arrived in the slow chicane at the end of the circuit, then he disappeared because it’s just too painful to throw the bike through this direction change like I need to. But – apart from the actual position in the race – I achieved everything I wanted to here in Estoril so I am happy, and I will be stronger in Le Mans.

“Thanks again to everyone at Rizla Suzuki for supporting me so well, and thanks to Suzuki in Japan for working so hard to improve the bike. It’s been a difficult few weeks but I am looking forward very positively – there are many races left to show what we can do!”

Dani Pedrosa opted to finish the session early so as not to put too much stress on his recovering shoulder, and Alvaro Bautista let Suzuki test rider Nobuatsu Aoki take over testing duties in the afternoon to allow him more time to recover from his broken femur.

By the end of the session Marco Simoncelli proved that he was once again fastest in the dry, with Jorge Lorenzo close behind him

Estoril MotoGP Test Times:
1. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m 36.211s (70)
2. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 36.316s (91)
3. Casey Stoner AUS Repsol Honda Team 1m 36.602s (49)
4. Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 36.850s (71)
5. Valentino Rossi ITA Ducati Marlboro Team 1m 37.382s (82)
6. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 37.410s (51)
7. Ben Spies USA Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 37.421s (69)
8. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 1m 37.460s (63)
9. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 1m 37.463s (89)
10. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team 1m 37.679s (17)
11. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m 38.032s (73)
12. Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing 1m 38.087s (85)
13. Toni Elias ESP LCR Honda MotoGP 1m 38.412s (108)
14. Loris Capirossi ITA Pramac Racing Team 1m 38.633s (97)
15. Nobuatsu Aoki JPN Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m 38.850s (68)

The British rider seemed unfazed, stating, “I felt like I learned the circuit pretty quickly and I was happy with my performance this morning”. Crutchlow ended the morning session in 14th, and dropped to 15th in the hotter afternoon session (20 degrees hotter than the morning session).

Colin Edwards continued his solid start to the season and finished as the top non-factory rider in the morning session by taking 8th position. He finished the afternoon session in 11th position.

Both Tech 3 Yamaha riders give their thoughts below:

Colin Edwards 10th 1.41.063 – 39 laps:
“We tried a bit of an experimental set-up with one bike we thought would work to help with the turning performance but it didn’t quite give us the result we were anticipating. It worked in some areas but it created some other issues, so we’ll go back to more of a similar set-up to what we ran in Qatar for tomorrow and we know that works. I was actually faster using the different setting but I just don’t feel I can run that pace consistently over a race distance. What made it really difficult today was the wind. It was really gusting hard in some places, so you just had to be pretty careful because it was easy to get caught out. You just had to pay attention and get a feel for which way the wind was blowing because at least it was consistent in one direction.”

Cal Crutchlow 15th 1.41.854 – 36 laps:
“I felt like I learned the circuit pretty quickly and I was happy with my performance this morning. But this afternoon I didn’t really make the improvement I was looking for and that was a lot to do with the track temperature being much higher. You only have to look at the times of the fast guys to see the hotter conditions made it hard because nobody in the top seven was faster this afternoon. I was a little bit quicker, so I’ve improved and gained some time, but I needed to make a bigger jump than I did. With the track temperature a lot higher it made the bike feel quite a bit different compared to this morning. I’m sure I can improve the front-end feel because the wind was so strong it was blowing me off line. The front needs to be more planted so we’ve got some ideas to improve tomorrow. Considering my lack of experience at this track, I’m satisfied because the times are pretty close and I know we can improve.”

Here is what they had to say:

Nicky Hayden (Ducati MotoGP Team) 9th, 1:56.726 (68 laps)
“When we got here this afternoon, I wasn’t sure how much riding we were going to get to do, because the wind was really gusting. It started dying down about the time we started, though, and they did a good job of cleaning the track. We tried some different options and got a little bit better, but not like we really wanted to. I did two longer runs and was able to string together some laps at a decent pace, on both hard and soft tyres. I ended the day with a crash in Turn 2, where a lot of guys have gone down this week. I just lost the front end. Anyway, that’s enough testing, because this weekend it will really mean something. We know it’s going to be a tough one, because everyone is pushing so hard, but we’ll do our best to come in here and make a good showing.”

Valentino Rossi (Ducati MotoGP Team) 13th, 1:56.988 (50 laps)
“I’d say that today was pretty challenging: the weather conditions were much tougher than yesterday, and I had another crash when I slipped on a white line. Fortunately, I just fell over on the ground—it was nothing serious. The real problem was that at about an hour and a half from the finish, I started to lose strength in my shoulder, and I just couldn’t push anymore. It’s a shame, because I had just done my best time, and I may have been able to drop it a little more from there. Instead, we didn’t even mount the two soft tyres that we had. I started on a long run, but I stopped because I was losing tenths lap after lap. Let’s say that we’re not as far back as it looks, although we still have a lot of work to do, regarding both the bike and myself, because the shoulder is evidently not yet able to bear two such intense days of testing. Between now and Thursday, I’ll do some light exercise and have it massaged, and then we’ll see.”

A congratulatory slap on the back for Randy de Puniet for being the fastest Ducati in 6th place.

MotoGP test times from day 2 in Qatar:
1. Casey Stoner AUS Repsol Honda Team 1m 55.681s (46)
2. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team 1m 55.745s (39)
3. Ben Spies USA Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 56.294s (45)
4. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m 56.433s (70)
5. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 1m 56.439s (58)
6. Randy de Puniet FRA Pramac Racing Team 1m 56.445s (67)
7. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 56.707s (48)
8. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 56.716s (57)
9. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 1m 56.726s (68)
10. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m 56.740s (73)
11. Hector Barbera ESP Mapfre Aspar Team 1m 56.798s (62)
12. Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m 56.931s (63)
13. Valentino Rossi ITA Ducati Marlboro Team 1m 56.988s (50)
14. Loris Capirossi ITA Pramac Racing Team 1m 57.345s (62)
15. Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 57.730s (28)
16. Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing 1m 57.846s (49)
17. Toni Elias ESP LCR Honda MotoGP 1m 58.536s (57)

Casey Stoner initially looked to the be rider that would dominate the session after taking an early lead, but Pedrosa chipped away and claimed the top slot.

A surprise came in the form of Hiroshi Aoyama who took 3rd place after a strong push in the second half of the test.

All top 7 positions were taken by either Honda or Yamaha, and Valentino Rossi could only manage to get the Ducati into 8th position after a tough first day that saw him crash early on, and then return once again to the garage to get burning rubber removed from his exhaust.

MotoGP Test Times: Qatar Day 1
1. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team 1m 56.271s (41)
2. Casey Stoner AUS Repsol Honda Team 1m 56.414s (32)
3. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m 56.444s (59)
4. Ben Spies USA Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 56.563s (38)
5. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 56.682s (60)
6. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 56.742s (42)
7. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 1m 56.780s (56)
8. Valentino Rossi ITA Ducati Marlboro Team 1m 57.038s (57)
9. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 1m 57.137s (57)
10. Randy de Puniet FRA Pramac Racing Team 1m 57.143s (39)
11. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m 57.226s (57)
12. Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m 57.302s (61)
13. Hector Barbera ESP Mapfre Aspar Team 1m 57.325s (69)
14. Loris Capirossi ITA Pramac Racing Team 1m 57.437s (56)
15. Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing 1m 57.499s (49)
16. Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 57.737s (51)
17. Toni Elias ESP LCR Honda MotoGP 1m 58.250s (65)