so the bike has improved quite a
bit. In general, I think, it's been a
very positive test and our engi-
neers have collected enough
information and data to make fur-
ther improvements for the next
test in Qatar and especially for
the first race of the season, at
the end of March."
In third was CWM LCR Hon-
da's Cal Crutchlow who made
steady improvement each day
and dropped 1.5 seconds off of
his time in the end. Although the
Brit was happy with his fastest
lap around Sepang, Crutchlow is
still looking to improve his riding
style on the Honda.
"For a track that I dislike,
that's my fastest ever lap around
here by nearly eight-tenths of
a second," Crutchlow said. "I
felt good and comfortable on
the bike, and it's not a bad lap
considering the conditions of the
circuit today. I'm happy enough
with how things are, but I still
need to improve my riding style."
Ducati's Andrea Iannone end-
ed the three-day test in fourth on
the all-new GP15 bike. Iannone
was immediately more comfort-
able on the new machine, while
his teammate Andrea Dovizioso
was still adapting to the smaller
machine and ended the test in
ninth.
Team Boss Gigi Dall'Igna said
that the decision as to which
bike they will race at the season
opener in Qatar—the GP15 or the
older GP 14.3—will be made at
the Qatar test.
After leading the way on the
first day of testing, Lorenzo's
teammate Valentino Rossi was
fifth ahead of Monster Energy
Tech 3's Bradley Smith.
In seventh was Marquez'
teammate Dani Pedrosa who
was one of the few riders to
improve his time in the hotter
afternoon session and the last
rider to break under the two-
minute mark.
Avintia Racing's Hector Bar-
bera was eighth and Suzuki's
Aleix Espargaro rounded out the
top 10.
VOL. 52 ISSUE 9 MARCH 3, 2015 P41
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
Cal Crutchlow made huge strides
forward, setting his fastest lap
ever around Sepang on his new
CWM LCR Honda.
