If you want to understand why MotoGP chooses to go testing at the Sepang International Circuit, Friday was a good example. It rained during both practice sessions for MotoGP, both in the morning and the afternoon. But despite that, the MotoGP riders didn’t lose too much time to the weather.
That is because it dries out really quickly, even if there is an absolute downpour. The rain fell heavily enough at the end of the morning session to send the riders out with wet tires. But when the rain fell in the afternoon, the track dried out so quickly they missed barely 10 minutes of track time. A rainy day in Sepang means little disruption to proceedings. At Jerez or Misano, you are waiting for half a day in the hope the track might dry out.
The rain was just one element (pun intended) of the rather weird weather in Sepang. It is still hot, of course (this is the tropics after all), but it was possible to wander around outside without quickly succumbing to the heat.
