Casey Stoner enjoyed some good form in testing in Sepang

By Azi Farni BBC pit-lane reporter

Six days of MotoGP testing over in Malaysia and with only two left in Qatar before the opening race on 20 March, there are some telling signs after Sepang 2.

The test started off amid rumours that Honda had introduced Dual Clutch Transmission - illegal in MotoGP - to their RC212Vs. HRC vice-president Shuhei Nakamoto soon rubbished the claims admitting Honda had something new - and legal - on the transmission but keeping quiet on what that might be.

Whatever secrets lie under that fairing, it helped the Hondas take the top positions again on the return to the Malaysian track.

Casey Stoner was the fastest rider at the end of each day, followed very closely by Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa - the only two riders to go below the two-minute mark.

Behind them, Marco Simoncelli and Andrea Dovizioso made it four Hondas in the top four - and all separated by less than a second.

More important than the fastest times was the consistency shown by the leading pair.

In motogp.com's analysis of riders' longest runs from the final day in Sepang, Stoner and Pedrosa were two of only four riders to average in the 2mins 01secs zone - Stoner averaging 2m 01.286s in 14 laps and Pedrosa 2m 01.683s in 10 laps.

Over at Ducati, it was harder to put a positive spin on the second Sepang test, with factory riders Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden finishing 11th and 12th on an identical time

Both riders were concentrating on chassis comparison. Stoner tested two 2011 options - one "standard" (stiffer) and the other "modified" - before opting for the standard. Pedrosa is yet to choose between the 2011 "modified" and a 2010 chassis, so will take both options to Qatar.

Meanwhile, braking stability, traditionally the Honda's weakest area, was still a focus for Dovizioso, who found some electronic adjustments that seem to have helped.

Behind the Honda quartet were a trio of Yamahas, with Ben Spies posting the fifth fastest time - more than a second off the lead - ahead of Colin Edwards and reigning champion Jorge Lorenzo.

On paper, it seems like a bad test for the Yamaha Factory Racing team. But, although the Hondas are faster on the softer tyre, the Yamahas are consistently on pace with the hard.

Spies remains upbeat, too. The American was one of the four riders to ride an average lap under 2m 02s (2m 01.472s) in his longest run on the final day, albeit from a shorter run of only five laps.

With the Yamaha M1, the issues were clear: traction and power.

While the new chassis positively enhances rear grip, Lorenzo has been vocal about the need for more horsepower.

While he concedes that extra power will not come in time for the first races, he does hope to see an improvement, with development later in the season.

The Yamaha's relative lack of horsepower is magnified on a track with two long straights but other tracks have shown to be more favourable to the M1 package.

And as Yamaha Factory Racing team manager Wilco Zeelenberg told reporters in Sepang, "power is useless without control".

Over at Ducati, it was harder to put a positive spin on the second Sepang test, with factory riders Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden finishing 11th and 12th on an identical time.

Valentino Rossi did not enjoy a particular productive test in Sepang

On Hayden's side, chatter problems were improved but not cured, while nine-time world champion Rossi was complaining of having to drop speed in order to turn mid-corner, revealing that there is still work to do in this area despite the work done by the factory to stabilise the front end.

The new-look fairing with winglets was promptly discarded in the Sepang tests and the prolonged focus on the chassis set-up means that Rossi's crew have not yet been able to try the new flexible chassis or 42mm Ohlins forks in place of the standard 48mm.

With time running out, the situation was not helped by Rossi uncharacteristically calling in sick on the second day. He was sent home after complaining of flu-like symptoms, making the third and final day a catch-up job.

For the first time since his move to the Italian factory, Rossi expressed serious concerns about the pace of Ducati's development.

He had expected to be placing in the top six by the end of this test. Instead, his Ducati was 11th fastest, 1.8secs off Stoner's time.

It is not all bad news, though. The one-off lap time may be off the pace but, in his longest series of laps on the last day, Rossi was the last rider of the four to get an average lap time in the 2m 01s - 2m 01.739s, albeit in only six laps.

But there is no doubt that it is a frustrating time at the factory, who are pulling out all the stops to be competitive this year.

Having done two private tests already in Jerez last November and in January, the Ducati development team, headed by Filippo Preziosi and with test rider Franco Battaini, were in Jerez for another private test, running concurrently with Sepang 2 and using feedback from Rossi and Hayden to determine the course for a series of software tests.

The MotoGP rules state that the official riders cannot test with the factory bike outside of the official testing times but that does not stop development teams from doing private tests or riders doing work in the factory. Stoner, for example, did some aerodynamics tests at the Honda factory in January.

In the Moto2 category, there are no such rules preventing testing outside of the official times. Several teams held private tests and jumped aboard Ducati's Jerez outings to add to their official testing schedules, albeit with unofficial engines.

Ten Moto2 teams joined the Ducati development team in their first private test last November, where last year's runner-up, Julian Simon, started his title challenge with a time joint quickest with Tom Luthi.

MotoGP newcomer Karel Abraham performed well in testing at Jerez

Karel Abraham was also present, taking advantage of the rookies rule, which allows MotoGP newcomers to have an extra session outside of the official tests, and scoring the fastest MotoGP time, ahead of Ducati test riders Battaini and Vitto Guareschi and the Suter MVDS MotoGP team, debuting their 2012 spec 1000cc prototype.

Incidentally, Marc VDS Moto2 rider Scott Redding was due to get some laps on it before a crash on the Moto2 bike on the second afternoon resulted in him being taken to hospital for a precautionary check-up.

Back to 2011, and in the private Catalunya test at the beginning of February, Andrea Iannone started his title challenge with the fastest time, followed closely by reigning 125cc champion Marc Marquez and Aleix Espargaro, who joined the Pons Racing Moto2 team after losing his seat in MotoGP.

Marquez, moving up from 125cc and Espargaro, moving down from 800cc, have both made stunningly quick adaptations to their new 600cc bikes, with Espargaro claiming "Moto2 is my category".

The debut year of the new intermediate category showed it to be a wide open class. Quite often, the top 20 qualifying times would be separated by a single second.

It was much the same in the official tests, with only one second between the top 14 riders in the first 2011 official test in Jerez, with Marquez and Redding, another rider expected to be challenging for top spot, scoring the joint fastest time.

The results of the following official test in Estoril were difficult to gauge as poor weather reduced activity to a minimum, with few riders out on the first day, almost none on day two and Simone Corsi eventually coming out on top on the final day, with one second covering the top 13.

Five teams joined the Ducati development team in their third private Jerez outing last week, which ended with Simon fastest again, followed by Marquez and Redding.

The last official test in Jerez on 4-6 March will see all the Moto2 teams presented with their official engines.

Alberto Moncayo, who starts his second full season in the 125s this year, is another rider who has impressed in pre-season

In the 125cc category, Nico Terol confirmed his status as the title favourite with the fastest time on all three days at the first test in Jerez and the first day of the rain affected Estoril test the following week.

The Spaniard, who opted to stay on for the final year of 125cc racing, while his championship rivals from 2010 moved up to Moto2, has a clear objective: to win the championship.

While 125 seasoners like Sandro Cortese and Hector Faubel will pose a threat, Terol's main competition looks like coming from some of the big group of rookies.

Fellow Spaniard Maverick Vinales, winner of the CEV Buckler and European 125cc championships, posted a top three fastest time in all three days in Jerez, while Miguel Oliveira was also amongst the top five in Jerez and fastest in Estoril.

Alberto Moncayo, who starts his second full season in the 125s this year, is another rider who has impressed in pre-season, posting a top-five fastest time in both tests.

With only two more testing days in MotoGP - and three more in the 125cc and Moto2 categories - time is running out for the riders and bikes to be ready for the season opener in March.

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