Hopkins fastest on day two at Sepang

The former Suzuki rider narrowly beat his former teammate Chris Vermeulen to the top of the timesheets at the Malaysian track, as he continues to get used to his new team.

Vermeulen had a strong day with the 2008 Suzuki GSV-R, which made its race debut at the same track with Nobuatsu Aoki towards the end of last season.

Rain affected the test for the second day running, although this time the track was wet at the start of the day, so only the early part of the test was affected.

Thursday's pacesetter Randy de Puniet was third fastest for LCR Honda, while Andrea Dovizioso was top rookie again in fourth for JiR Team Scot.

Loris Capirossi ran both the '07 and '08 Suzukis, and behind him Nicky Hayden was sixth on the only 2008 Honda at the test.

Colin Edwards was entrusted with the work on Yamaha's 2008 machine, while Jorge Lorenzo and James Toseland continued to adapt to MotoGP on the 2007 bike.

Reigning World Superbike champion Toseland propped up the timesheets for the second day running, but he was 0.5 seconds closer to the fastest time than he was yesterday after completing 60 laps on the Tech 3 bike.

Times to follow...