By Peter McLaren
A little after 2 o'clock on day two of the Sepang test saw an interesting battle develop on track, where double World Superbike champion
James Toseland was catching double 250cc world champion
Jorge Lorenzo, also a
MotoGP rookie on a Michelin-shod M1.
After several laps locked on Jorge's rear wheel, and despite the Spaniard ending the day with a faster individual lap time, Toseland dived under Lorenzo through the second part of a left-right flick - then edged away from the factory rider, who pitted shortly after.
According to Toseland's Tech 3 boss Herve Poncharal, that contest should be seen regularly during the 2008 season - and the Frenchman backs Toseland to keep pushing Lorenzo all the way.
"I saw James together with Lorenzo and this is what is pleasing me," Poncharal told
Crash.net. "Lorenzo is the 250cc world champion, James is the World Superbike champion, but Lorenzo has already had a two day test in Valencia. Their race pace was very close to each other and it is a very good comparison between them.
"I'd be lying if I said that nobody will be looking at who will be the best Michelin-Yamaha rookie, between James and Lorenzo," he admitted. "I personally think that I made the right choice and I trust James to challenge Lorenzo. Although everybody thinks Lorenzo is a bright star for the future, I am sure James will be right with him and hopefully in front of him."
Toseland went on to finish his first ever MotoGP test, and first visit to Sepang, half a second behind Lorenzo on race tyres, although the Spaniard jumped up the order further after a late run with a qualifying tyre - something that didn't impress Toseland's manager Roger Burnett.
