The 2006 MotoGP world champion Nicky Hayden was due to run on both the 2008 prototype Repsol Honda and the bike he raced in the 2007 series, however the weather saw the American rider spend all his time aboard the 2007 model.
Randy De Puniet on the LCR Honda and Andrea Dovizioso on the JiR Scot Honda both stuck with the 2007 specification machines.
Hayden's team-mate, Spaniard Dani Pedrosa opted not to attend the Sepang test as he completed all the testing he feels he needed on the new bike during the first test at Valencia last week. He preferred to wait until the latest version of the machine is ready to test at Jerez on November 27th – 29th.
Malaysia's unpredictable weather left the riders with damp patches to deal with and Hayden was one of three riders to crash at the first corner within a few laps of the start, John Hopkins and James Toseland were also victims of the conditions.
"Everything didn't get off to a good start today crashing on the fifth lap of a three-day test isn't so smart,” said Hayden. “I was just about to get off the brakes when I went down it was very bright and I didn't notice the damp patches, I was going pretty slow and I'm OK. It's the oldest excuse there is to say 'There must have been something on the track' but three guys gong down in the same place. That kinda put us on the back foot but the boys fixed the bike and we got in some decent laps but with the track being damp in the morning and the rain coming after lunch we didn't get a whole lot done.”
The weather halted their schedule as he went on to say, “We planned to take the new bike out after lunch but the rain prevented that. The new bike is the same as at Valencia but we planned to run some different power curves on the engine."
Frenchman De Puniet has adapted well to the Honda and was the fastest man on track, despite crashing the LCR machine mid afternoon, just before the rain started to fall.
De Puniet put in 45 laps around the Malaysian circuit while testing to find a base set-up, engine maps and a selection of Michelin tyres. The Frenchman recorded a best lap time of 2min 03.033secs, making him the fastest rider of the day despite the crash.
"Not so bad today. We started with the old set up for 20 laps then I came in to make changes to the front and rear suspension to suit my riding style,” he explained. “We found a good balance inside 40 laps then we worked a little on the engine mapping. I had a small crash just before the rain started, the front end turned in on me at the fast right hand corner at the back of the grandstand. I am satisfied with the first day pity about the rain because we need to get as many laps as possible to help me understand the bike better but I think we are working in a good direction, taking things step by step."
Young Italian Andrea Dovizioso, riding for the JiR Scot Honda team, spent his day testing to find an ideal base set-up to work from at Sepang then worked on the engine braking system of his RCV.
"I am very much more at home on this circuit than at Valencia and I am very happy with the bike - it's big, fast and a lot of fun to ride,” he grinned. “My lap times are very good and that surprised me because I do not yet have a really good feel for the bike in the way I want - there are so many things for me to understand about the bike before I can go fast. I am not yet confident with the engine braking because the back end slides a lot and I cannot use the front brake as I need to - if I had less engine braking I could focus more on the front brake. We have two-more days and I'm confident we will improve."
