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IN THE WIND P32 to struggle with the new Bridge- stone tires. He also knows that his best was still .466 of a sec- ond slower than the lap turned in by Repsol Honda's Marc Mar- quez during the first Sepang test in early February – though the teams were using the 2013- spec Bridgestones for that test. "First of all I am very happy because I am in first position and I did a good lap," Rossi said in a team release. "I was one of the only ones in the 1:59s which is positive, especially because with the 2014 tires in the first test we tried a time attack and I was more than one second slower than today. This test we have always been at the top and fighting for the first position so it's positive. We still have some problems when it's very hot over long distance with the new tires, so we still have to work, but we made a good step from the first test. The next test in Philip Island will be very important to under- stand if also there we improved a lot like here because I am more than one second faster than the second test of last year so we have been working well." Pedrosa's final day also includ- ed a race simulation of 19 laps with his best lap during that run a 2:00.985 on the 15th lap. After the simulation, Pedrosa went out to try for a quick lap and he did so, matching Rossi's 1:59.999. In total, Pedrosa did 41 laps on day three and 145 laps in total. "Today we worked on engine mapping to improve cornering, but the most important thing that we were able to do is a race simu- lation," Pedrosa said in a team re- lease. "We also tried to improve our fast lap time attacks as well. We progressed a lot - although there is still room for improve- ment. Now we are off to Phillip Island to test out the new tires." Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso ended up third fastest on the day that the team announced it will compete in the Open class of MotoGP in 2014. Dovizioso lapped at a best of 2:00.067, which was .3 of a second faster than his best lap of the previous Sepang test. Fourth overall went to NGM Forward Racing's Aleix Esparga- ro on the Open class Yamaha M1. Espargaro's best was a 2:00.101. Espargaro bested the LCR Hon- da of Stefan Bradl, the Ger- man rider ending up fifth over- all with a 2:00.164. Alvaro Bautista's best time came from day two, the 2:00.500 placing him sixth overall on the Go & Fun Gresi- ni Honda. Jorge Lorenzo ended the test a disappointed seventh - .620 behind his teammate Rossi and Honda's Pedrosa. "We found a better solution today to improve our situation and adapt these tires at this track," Lorenzo said. "The tires are much harder in the sidewalls. At this track, with this tarmac that is very slip- pery, it's not the same as Phil- lip Island or Mugello for example, it's impossible for us to be com- petitive. This tire is much worse for Yamaha and better for Honda. Our bike is competitive, at a simi- lar level to the competitors, but with the tire we have problems. We tried a simulation today and it was worse and worse every lap. In the edge there is a problem with no grip but also when you pick up the bike it spins. You can improve the feeling a little to get more grip but when the tire starts to drop the problems get worse and worse." Ducati's Cal Crutchlow ended the test eighth, one spot bet- ter than his countryman Bradley Smith on the Monster Tech 3 Ya- maha. Moto2 World Champion Pol Espargaro rounded out the top 10 overall. At least it does really nice wheelies: Nicky Hayden was down in 15 th at the end of the three-day Malaysian test.