Halfway through the final day of testing at Sepang, and the track has fallen silent as most of the riders break for lunch. The only man disturbing the peace is Michele Pirro, grinding out the hard yards in the heat of the day, earning his keep as Ducati's test rider the hard way.
The day started bright, early and fast. Almost the entire grid went for a time attack in the first half hour after the track was open. Times tumbled, with Marc Marquez walking away with the fastest ever two-wheeled lap of the circuit, setting a time of 1'59.533 and smashing Casey Stoner's record here from 2011. Marquez was not the only man under the two-minute mark, though, being joined by Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo and the increasingly impressive Aleix Espargaro on the Open class NGM Forward Yamaha FTR.
Aleix Espargaro was not the only rider to impress. Andrea Dovizioso set the fastest time by a Ducati around circuit, a couple of tenths quicker than Casey Stoner's best time from 2010. Pol Espargaro is making a strong debut at Sepang, just over a second off the leaders in 8th, while Nicky Hayden has cut his deficit to Marquez by another half a second, and eight tenths quicker than his fastest time of Wednesday.
