Ilmor off pace in Sepang

The British-built new Ilmor 800cc machine got a rude awakening today in Malaysia when Andrew Pitt finished a massive 6.4s off the pace on day one at Sepang.

The Ilmor, which raced twice at the end of last season, joined the MotoGP testing circus for the first time today in Malaysia having missed the January test in Sepang and also last week’s three-day session in Australia.

It was a gruelling return though for the bike that was designed and built by renowned Formula One engineer Mario Illien with a chassis produced by former racer Eskil Suter.

Pitt logged a best time of just 2.08.64 in 49-laps but on paper it doesn’t make for pleasant reading, with the Aussie’s time 0.6s behind Spaniard Dani Pedrosa’s 250 lap record set in 2005! 

The former Yamaha WSB rider was 2.1s behind next slowest with MotoGP rookie Sylvain Guintoli clocking a 2.06.55 on his new Yamaha 800.

Pitt managed only three laps in the 2.08 bracket today and there were rumours that two engines failed. With Jeremy McWilliams still absent with the broken left femur, it was left to Aussie Pitt to test on his own today in overcast and relatively cool conditions compared to the usual sauna heat in Malaysia.

McWilliams is due to see surgeons in Belfast again tomorrow (Tuesday), where he will be hoping to get the all-clear to return to action in next week’s International Race Teams Association test in Qatar. The Doha test gets underway on February 13.