Edwards 'ready to leave'.

Gauloises Yamaha rider Colin Edwards continued to make headway with the development of his YZR-M1 machine today throughout a very humid second day of a three-day test at Sepang.

Edwards completed 50 laps of the 5.548 km circuit on his 2005-spec machine. Once again the main task of the day was Michelin tyre testing, although some time was also spent working on engine mapping.

The Texan rider eventually finished the day a little early after a best lap of 2mins 2.378secs - 0.88secs behind fastest man Max Biaggi.

"It was tyres again today!" confirmed Colin. "We did little bits here and there with the engine, but tyres were the main focus. Hopefully tomorrow we'll get a bit more time to try some other things and we're also going to do a long run, which will be tough in these conditions!

"I'm ready to leave Malaysia now; this is our third test in a row here and I'm ready for a change of scenery!" he admitted. "We've got one more day here and of course I'll keep pushing as hard as I can throughout it. I feel really good about everything but I'm looking forward to getting out of here and moving on to Phillip Island next week."

"Today was hard work for everyone because it was so hot," added crew chief Daniele Romagnoli. "We did some more tyre testing and found some positive things to help us move forward. We also worked a little on the engine mapping.

"Our performance is at the same level as at the last test and now we are looking for better handling and agility in order to move forward again, so we will keep focusing on this tomorrow for the final day."

Edwards' factory Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi didn't test today due to an illness.

Sepang II test times - Saturday:

1. Max Biaggi ITA Repsol Honda 2min 1.501secs
2. Sete Gibernau SPA Telefonica Movistar Honda 2min 1.686secs
3. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda 2min 1.717secs
4. Alex Barros BRA Camel Honda 2min 1.786secs
5. Makoto Tamada JPN Konica Minolta Honda 2min 1.83secs
6. Carlos Checa SPA Ducati Marlboro 2min 1.891secs
7. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Marlboro 2min 2.291secs
8. Marco Melandri ITA Telefonica Movistar Honda 2min 2.429secs
9. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha Gauloises 2min 2.378secs
10. Shinichi Itoh JPN Ducati Bridgestone TTT 2min 2.551secs
11. Toni Elias SPA Fortuna Yamaha Tech 3 2min 3.60secs
12. Troy Bayliss AUS Camel Honda 2min 3.75secsOther riders also present, but no times released

Comparative lap times:
Malaysian Grand Prix - 10/10/2004:

Pole position: Valentino Rossi ITA Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha 2min 1.833secs

Fastest laps: Yamaha: Valentino Rossi ITA Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha 2min 3.253secs Honda: Max Biaggi ITA Camel Honda 2min 3.281secsDucati: Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Marlboro 2min 4.048secsKawasaki: Shinya Nakano JPN Fuchs Kawasaki 2mins 4.264secsSuzuki: John Hopkins USA Team Suzuki 2min 4.879secs

Previous pre-season testing:

(25/01/2005) Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Marlboro 2min 0.54secs