The second day of the final pre-season MotoGP test was again played out in difficult weather conditions today with riders having to splash through a water-filled morning before being able to enjoy some dry track time later in the afternoon. Valentino Rossi was finally given the conditions that allowed him to show his pleasure at being back on the YZR-M1. In the afternoon’s dry spell and on a European circuit he knows well, the nine time Champion rose quickly to the top of the time-sheets, staying there until the close of the day and reminding everyone that the special relationship between ‘the Doctor’ and the M1 has not lost its magic. Team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, yesterday’s fastest rider in the wet, was just 0.015 seconds behind Rossi as today’s session ended, the reigning World Champion continuing to stay on the pace at the sharp end of the time scores.
Valentino Rossi
1st / 1.39.525 / 39 laps
“Today’s test session was very positive for us. I’m so happy, especially because we used a different style of setting. It is very important for us to understand this setting, which can help and effect my riding style to ride the bike in a better way and stay more constant, especially with good lap times on old tyres. To make the first position with a time of 39.5 is good and also being as fast as Jorge. Me and my team are very happy with the pace and I think we will try to continue to work on this way.”
Jorge Lorenzo
2nd / 1.39.540 / 34 laps
“The track was dry but not in perfect conditions today, there was not so much grip and we had some problems in some corners, where the bike was not very stable. In general it was a very positive test. We worked on suspension and electronics today and we saw that compared to Austin the Yamaha‘s were much more competitive. There are three Yamaha‘s in the top three and that is good for the motivation of the brand. The track is not in the best condition, it’s dry but it’s not perfect because of the rain. I think we have to focus on getting more stability on acceleration and get more comfortable with the race pace.”
Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager
“We are of course happy that it dried up and that we were able to do forty laps today in dry conditions. Lap times were quite good. We are still not so satisfied with the set up so we will continue to work on that. Lap time wise Cal, Vale and Jorge are very close and in front of Honda, which we are of course very happy with, but the gap is quite tight! We need to work more on the set up tomorrow.”
Massimo Meregalli – Team Director
“Finally we managed to have a good and valuable practice. We were able to work very well on the base set up and we had quite good results. Now we are ready to test the last new items tomorrow. We will confirm the difference between the two chassis’ and decide which one to use in Qatar. We didn’t have any problems today, just good steps made by trying different settings. It has been a very positive day.”
