A three day test for Marco Simoncelli continued in Malaysia today, with the Roman rider continuing his preparations for a first season in MotoGP with Team San Carlo Honda Gresini in 2010. ‘Super Sic’ took to the Sepang circuit in determined and enthusiastic mood at around 10 o’clock this morning, racking up 56 laps despite the interruption of a tropical downpour in the afternoon. Cloudy conditions this morning were replaced by bright sunshine following the storm, allowing Marco to complete his programme for the day and, with the track in better shape than yesterday, he was consistently inside his fastest lap from the opening day. The team will make some final set-up changes tomorrow in search of more front and rear grip before completing a race simulation ahead of their trip home for the Christmas holidays. Marco Simoncelli (2’03″70; 44 laps): “Lap after lap I feel better on the bike and the fact I was consistently inside my best time from yesterday is evidence of that. This morning we started early and worked at an intense pace, allowing us to get through the entire programme we had planned. Despite the changeable weather we were able to make some improvements to the balance of the chassis and took some more steps forward during the heavy afternoon downpour, which you always get here in Malaysia. The lap time of 2’03″70 is encouraging but I must insist once again that this is not my objective at the moment. The most positive thing is that I have lapped at a consistently fast pace for all 56 laps and I started to enjoy it. Tomorrow we’ll make a couple of changes aimed at improving the traction on the front and rear and then try a race simulation. Not a bad second day all round everything is going to plan.”