Andrea Dovizioso fastest Yamaha at Sepang

Andrea Dovizioso lit up the final day of the second Sepang MotoGP test with a stunning performance on the satellite Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 to seize the third fastest time.

Dovizioso was slower only than the factory Repsol Honda duo of Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa, ending the test just 0.329s off Stoner's best effort with a time of 2m 0.802s.

Almost back to full fitness after breaking his right collarbone in a training accident in early January, Dovizioso completed a packed testing schedule to conclude a very positive shakedown in Malaysia.

“Despite the rain disrupting the first two days, this has been a really positive test and I am very happy. I did my first laps in the rain on the Yamaha and I had a very positive feeling,” said the former factory Honda rider.

“The engine was very smooth and I could manage the sliding but one very important area was my physical condition. My shoulder was much better than the first test here and this enabled me to understand the potential of the YZR-M1 machine much more.

“I am much more confident on the bike and I am happy with the lap time and the position and we have done a very good job understanding many things here. I like the new engine because it helps with the corner entry, and this was already a really strong point of the Yamaha,” added the Italian rider.

“I did a long run of 15 laps today and it was important to learn the characteristics of the bike over a longer distance. It was really interesting to understand about tyre wear and we have some work to do but the potential of the bike is already at a very high level.

“Now I am really looking forward to the next test in Jerez because it is a completely different track with different temperatures and this will be good experience for me to understand the bike even more.”