Honda riders in full swing at Sepang.

The New Year saw its first MotoGP action at Sepang today [Tuesday], with a packed test session at the Malaysian track bringing to an end the testing prohibition in place for the last month.

In contrast to the thunderous downpours that shrouded the region on the eve of the test, the Honda riders were greeted with bright sunshine on their arrival at the circuit around 9am, and began work right away to avoid the forecast afternoon drenching. With the air temperature hovering between the 30? and 35? mark throughout the day, testing is tough at this circuit for both rider and machine, but the limit-pushing extremes of this, the accommodating yet challenging circuit and the constant warm asphalt temperatures mean that testing is vital to most team's pre-season plans.

Camel Pramac Pons' Max Biaggi is a past winner here, and is no stranger to the conditions, and he duly clocked a lap time of 2min 03.47secs to head the day - and break the lap record set in the Malaysian GP just three months ago.

"I had a good month's rest, which we need to recharge the batteries for this pan-continental test," the Italian said, mindful of the move to Phillip Island next month, "I like the conditions here in Malaysia, which are hot and humid. When you haven't got too many things to test, it's certainly good physical preparation.

"We are working on a single bike here, waiting for the new machines, and we are testing mainly suspension and tyres. It's good, because it will make a good comparison when the 2004 bike arrives and we test it here next month."

Newly-announced team-mate Makoto Tamada was also in attendance, completing 41 laps.

"We didn't really work on tyres today as I expected, and concentrated more on the machine set-up as a whole, which showed some good results," the Japanese runner reported, "The conditions are difficult here, but today as a whole was good, I've done my training well, so it was no problem for me at all. The rest of this test we will dedicate now to the tyres above all."

Following Biaggi in ducking under the 2min 04secs benchmark was Telefonica MoviStar Honda's Sete Gibernau, who set a best lap of 2min 03.51secs - last year's series runner-up keen not to be outdone in the early psychological battles.

"I've trained well, so it wasn't really a problem riding today in the heat, although obviously you have to settle into things first," the Spaniard said, "My morale is so high at the moment, and it's helped today by the fact that we have already made improvements on the race record time. We worked mainly on tyres today, and with Michelin's 17" front. For the rest of the test we'll probably move on to suspension and other such things, but I'm happy with our work today."

Gibernau's new team-mate, Colin Edwards, continued his rapid adaptation to the RC211V, setting a 2min 04.26secs best, just behind Tamada's 2min 04.00secs effort on the Bridgestone-shod RCV.

"We were working a bit on the set-up, which isn't too different from that of Valencia to be honest, and also playing with a few different rims, working with Michelin," the American revealed, "We've tried a lot of that before, so not much new there.

"As for my adaptation to the new bike in these conditions, after having been in the mountains and with thin air for a month, I thought I might come here a hero, but it's still too hot! As regards my adaptation, Hondas have a certain character and, whether it's Superbike or MotoGP, it's got those similar characteristics, so it's never a problem for me, just getting back into the swing."

Fellow American Nicky Hayden made his first appearance of the 2004 pre-season after undergoing surgery on his thumb, and immediately posted a 2min 04.72secs best, placing him ahead of Tohru Ukawa, who rode a development machine in his new role as HRC's official test rider.

"This is the first time for me as a test rider, which is a strange situation," the Japanese veteran admitted, "I'm happy with the direction that the development bike is going, with the new engine, frame and suspension spec all looking good to me. However, I wasn't happy with my lap time. The bike feels comfortable and everything, and physically I am okay - I think that it will take time to get used to being a test rider. There are still two days though so, by the last day, I hope to have set a good time.

The riders stopped around an hour earlier than planned due to light rain affecting parts of the track.