The Fiat Yamaha Team began a two-day test in Jerez, southern Spain
yesterday and Valentino Rossi made a positive start to the second
winter session, finishing the day second fastest behind Dani Pedrosa.
With this being the final test for the team until February, these two
days are especially important in order to gather as much information
as possible for the Japanese engineers to work with over the next two
months, as they continue to develop the 2009-spec M1.

Clear skies and a cold wind meant track temperatures were very cool in
the morning and Rossi chose to wait until 1.30pm, when the
newly-resurfaced track had warmed up slightly, to begin. As per the
new single-tyre rule there are just two front and two rear
specifications available for the test, with the riders supplied with
two tyres of each specification, making eight in total. The world
champion completed 20 laps on the 2008-spec bike and 20 on the new
2009 prototype M1, on which he set his fastest lap of the day in a
time of 1’40.135.

As at the post-race test in Valencia one month ago Lorenzo has two
bikes available to him here; the 2008 M1 and a test version of the
bike, with some new prototype parts, but with the new single-tyre rule
having now come into force he spent today on the 2008 bike, working on
adapting his set-up to the new tyres. He completed 51 laps with a
fastest time of 1’41.163, putting him third fastest behind Dani
Pedrosa and his team-mate Rossi.

Valentino Rossi – Position: 2nd Time: 1’40.135 Laps: 40
“I am happy about this first day because my performance has been good
from the beginning and I have been fast all day. Unfortunately it’s
been quite cold and there was only three hours when it was possible to
go fast, but we were able to get quite a lot of work done in this
short space of time. We have tried some different things on the old
2008 bike and we were able to make some improvements and then we also
tested several new things on the prototype bike, and I am happy
because I did my fastest lap with this bike. Bridgestone have brought
good tyres here; so far I don’t see any problems with the new rule and
it seems they’re doing a good job. They have resurfaced the track and
it has made a big difference; they have got rid of all the bumps and
like this it’s great fun to ride around. I think we will be able to go
faster now. Today was very cold, especially with the wind so now I
hope it’s a bit better tomorrow and that it doesn’t rain because we
have a lot more work to do and I would like to improve my lap time a
bit more.”

Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 3rd Time: 1’41.163 Laps: 51
“Overall today has been a good day, even if the cold weather hasn’t
allowed us too much time on track. It’s only my second day testing
since the new tyre rule and I think we’re doing a good job so far, but
we still have to improve because we’re not yet sure of the perfect
configuration for our bike with the tyres. We are still using the 2008
bike with the old setting at the moment, I have a test bike with some
new parts but we didn’t use it today – maybe tomorrow. Anyway I feel
good because I can see that we have the potential to improve more. The
new track surface is a lot better, there are fewer bumps and so you
can go faster and ride more how you want to. This is a good
improvement to the track. Tomorrow it seems there is a chance of rain
but I really hope not because we have a lot to do and I would like to
leave here having improved further. This is a very important test
because it’s the last one until February, when we will have a new
bike, so we need to gather as much information as possible for the
engineers.”

Test Times
1. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 1’39.525
2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1’40.135
3. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1’41.163
4. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 1’41.390
5. Alex De Angelis (RSM) Team San Carlo 1’41.468
6. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 1’41.539
7. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Repsol Honda 1’41.655
8. Toni Elias (SPA) Team San Carlo 1’41.679
9. Niccolò Canepa (ITA) Ducati Test 1’42.074
10. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team 1’42.098
11. Mika Kallio (FIN) Alice Team 1’42.837
12. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Grupo Francisco Hernando 1’42.943
13. Vittoriano Guareschi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team 1’43.642
14. Yuki Takahashi (JPN) JiR Team Scot Honda 1’44.360

Jerez: Record Lap
D. Pedrosa (Honda) 2008, 1’40.116

Jerez: Best Lap
J. Lorenzo (Yamaha) 2008, 1’38.189

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