By blue2bikes
January 24 2006

The first showing for those riders taking part in the MotoGP World Championship 2006 took place at Sepang, in the first three-day test of the new season. Not unexpectedly, from earlier reports, Valentino Rossi led the field aboard the new Camel-backed Yamaha YZR-M1 machine. Marco Melandri and Nicky Hayden were to be up close and personal, starting their seasons where they finished off the race series of 2005.

Surprisingly, it was Dani Pedrosa who was to come out blazing and end up in a very creditable fourth position. This is Dani’s first year in the MotoGP, and I feel sure it will be one where he will certainly show his talents, and will almost certainly be running up the front along with Marco and Nicky.

Good to see that Brit James Ellison is in front of another new rider to the series - Chris Vermeulen - and I am sure that they will both be challenging for the top ten positions.

A great position for Casey Stoner, another new rider in the series, and he will surely go on to challenge more experienced riders in the championship.

Times for the first day tests are as follows:
1 Valentino Rossi ITA, Camel Yamaha Team, 2min 2.14secs
2 Marco Melandri ITA, Fortuna Honda, 2:02.21s
3 Nicky Hayden USA, Repsol Honda Team, 2:02.23s
4 Dani Pedrosa ESP, Repsol Honda Team, 2:02.46s
5 Loris Capirossi ITA, Ducati Marlboro Team, 2:02.54s
6 Colin Edwards USA, Camel Yamaha Team, 2:02.61s
7 Sete Gibernau ESP, Ducati Marlboro Team, 2:02.86s
8 John Hopkins USA, Team Suzuki MotoGP, 2:03.3s
9 Casey Stoner AUS, LCR Honda, 2:03.57s
10 Kenny Roberts USA, Team Roberts, 2:03.75s
11 Shin’ya Nakano JAP, Kawasaki Racing Team, 2:03.77s
12 Toní Elías ESP, Fortuna Honda, 2:03.8s
13 Randy de Puniet FRA, Kawasaki Racing Team, 2:03.9s
14 Alex Hofmann BRD, d’Antín Ducati Pramac, 2:04.63s
15 James Ellison ENG, Tech 3 Yamaha, 2:06.4s
16 Chris Vermeulen AUS, Team Suzuki MotoGP, 2:06.5s
17 José Luís Cardoso ESP, d’Antín Ducati Pramac, 2:07.7s