Biaggi, Hayden collide in pit lane.

Repsol Honda riders Max Biaggi and Nicky Hayden emerged seventh and eighth fastest from the first day of testing on their new 2005 RCVs - having escaped unharmed after a 'freak' collision in the Sepang pit lane.

The pair hit each other while entering and exiting their respective garages. Although their machines were damaged, both riders were uninjured.

"The pit lane accident was one of those things, Max pulled out of his pit garage right in front of me as I was heading back into mine, we hit each other, it was nothing more than an accident," said Hayden.

"The accident happened when I was leaving the pit garage, Nicky returns to his pit very close to the garages and I didn't see him," added Max.

Biaggi went on to complete 41 laps today, his session being interrupted again when he slipped from his machine, without injury, after losing the front during the morning running. The Italian's ankle is recovering well from his November Supermoto accident and he now admits to it being 85% recovered.

"We started some important work today, trying and testing new materials. It is a delicate job, it takes time and patience to get to the definitive bike," said the Roman, who was 0.84secs slower than fastest man Sete Gibernau today.

"Today I'm satisfied with the little improvements we have made which all indicate important things for the future. We don't care about the lap time today as it counts for nothing," he declared.

Hayden completed over twice as many laps as Biaggi, but finished the day a fraction slower than his new team-mate.

"I started the day just with a shakedown on the two brand new 2005 bikes," recalled the American. "They didn't feel too much different to the last test here a couple of weeks ago but we knew that would be the case. I tried a few suspension changes and some were good but I got into a bit of a rut this afternoon.

"We knew that, for the first day, we wouldn't be giving too much focus to any one area of the machine. I've got some chassis changes to try tomorrow so I'm sure I can get going better than today," he revealed.

Testing continues tomorrow...

Sepang II test times - Friday:

1. Sete Gibernau SPA Telefonica Movistar Honda 2min 1.76secs
2. Alex Barros BRA Camel Honda 2min 2.12secs
3. Makoto Tamada JPN Konica Minolta Honda 2min 2.41secs
4. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Marlboro 2min 2.47secs
5. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha Gauloises 2min 2.53secs
6. Carlos Checa SPA Ducati Marlboro 2min 2.56secs
7. Max Biaggi ITA Repsol Honda 2min 2.60secs
8. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda 2min 2.67secs
9. Marco Melandri ITA Telefonica Movistar Honda 2min 2.691secs
10. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha Gauloises 2min 2.98secs
11. Toni Elias SPA Fortuna Yamaha Tech 3 2min 3.90secs
12. Ruben Xaus SPA Fortuna Yamaha Tech 3 2min 4.08secs
13. Shinichi Itoh JPN Ducati Bridgestone TTT2min 4.30secs
14. Troy Bayliss AUS Camel Honda 2min 4.45secsOther riders also present, but no times released

Comparative lap times:
Malaysian Grand Prix - 10/10/2004:

Pole position: Valentino Rossi ITA Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha 2min 1.833secs

Fastest laps: Yamaha: Valentino Rossi ITA Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha 2min 3.253secs Honda: Max Biaggi ITA Camel Honda 2min 3.281secsDucati: Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Marlboro 2min 4.048secsKawasaki: Shinya Nakano JPN Fuchs Kawasaki 2mins 4.264secsSuzuki: John Hopkins USA Team Suzuki 2min 4.879secs

Previous pre-season testing:

(25/01/2005) Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Marlboro 2min 0.54secs