Ahead of the first Official MotoGP test of 2013 which will start on Tuesday, the CRT outfits got off to a frustrating start at the Sepang International Circuit on Sunday, as a series of problems for the three teams that were testing meant there was very little track action throughout the day.
NGM Forward Racing´s Colin Edwards and Claudio Corti, Came IODA Racing´s Danilo Petrucci and Lukas Pesek and Avintia Blusens´ Hector Barbera and Hiroshi Aoyama had all arrived in Sepang ready to take advantage of the two extra days testing given to the teams that are using the Magneti Marelli ECU system, but it was a frustrating day for most of the riders.
Petrucci was the first out on track, just less than an hour into the test session, which ran from 10:00 until 18:00 local time. The Italian made 27 laps as he tested the new electronics package.
Avintia Blusens spent most of the day trying to resolve wiring loom issues. In the afternoon, nearly five hours into the test, Barbera finally managed to get out on track but additional electronic problems with the FTR-Kawaski meant the Spaniard only managed four laps. Team-mate Aoyama was finally able to get out on track for nine laps with half an hour of the test remaining to assess the condition of his wrist, which he broke in a motocross accident two weeks ago. The Japanese felt some pain after getting off the bike and will re-assess his condition Monday morning.
The NGM Forward Racing team was still building its bikes well into the afternoon, having not received all of the parts in time to have them built in the team´s workshop ahead of the test. Edwards and Corti could only stand around and watch as the team finished their work throughout the day. For Corti it was too late to get out on track before it closed, while Edwards managed only an out lap in the last five minutes of the test session.
All six riders will have another day´s exclusive use of the track for testing on Monday, before being joined by the rest of the MotoGP teams on Tuesday.
–From motogp.com
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