Edwards opens Sepang Test by topping timesheets Monday 5th February Four teams and seven riders were on track today in Malaysia, for MotoGP’s second visit to Sepang of 2007. The teams absent from last week’s Australian excursion all continued their 800cc development in the customary humid conditions, in the first of three testing days. Both Yamaha factory riders took the early initiative in Asia, with Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi at the top of the timesheets. Edwards put in a lap of 2’02.175 on the latest version of the M1, edging out team-mate and five-time MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi by under 5 hundredths of a second. The Italian, who committed his future to the factory for the next two seasons last week, rode the fewest laps of any rider on day one, completing just 40 circuits. Kawasaki’s Randy de Puniet was the only other rider to break the 2’03 barrier, albeit over half a second slower than the two official Yamaha representatives. The Frenchman grafted hard on the opening day, and put in over twice as many laps as Rossi on the Ninja ZX-RR800. As he continues to adapt to the Yamaha M1 with Dunlop tyres, a product of his switch this season from Luca Montiron’s Michelin-shod Honda team, Makoto Tamada was fourth fastest, ahead of the French duo of Olivier Jacque and his fellow Yamaha Tech 3 rider Sylvain Guintoli. The Japanese rider already went quicker than at the opening test of the year in January. Ilmor, making their first appearance outside of Europe, only bring rider Andrew Pitt to Sepang for this week’s proceedings. His team-mate Jeremy McWilliams is still on the mend after surgery on his leg, and is expected to return to action for the Official Test in Qatar. Pitt put 49 laps worth of miles on the Ilmor GP bike’s clock, adding to the small number he was able to undertake in Almeria last month. MotoGP Test Sepang Day One: Unofficial Times 1. Colin Edwards Yamaha Racing 2’02.175 47 laps 2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha Racing 2’02.221 40 3. Randy de Puniet Kawasaki Racing 2’02.966 85 4. Makoto Tamada Yamaha Tech 3 2’03.219 68 5. Olivier Jacque Kawasaki Racing 2’03.959 60 6. Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha Tech 3 2’06.558 55 7. Andrew Pitt Ilmor GP 2’08.640 – 49 More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Rossi and Edwards Get Back to Work in Sepang The Yamaha Factory Racing Team’s second test of 2007 got underway in Sepang, Malaysia today, with Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards back out onboard their prototype 800cc machines for another three-day test. With most teams having chosen to test in Australia last week, Yamaha decided to return to Sepang and take advantage of the relatively quieter atmosphere this week, sharing the track with just five other riders from Tech 3 Yamaha, Kawasaki and Ilmor. With temperatures slightly lower than at the previous test, Edwards and Rossi, who set the first and second fastest times of the day respectively, spent the day working on the set-up of the new bike and testing some new parts for Yamaha and Ohlins. Both riders were very happy with the day’s work and reported significant improvement to the stability of the bike under braking, laying the groundwork for what they hope will be two more encouraging and fruitful days of testing as the March 10th deadline of the first race looms ever closer. Colin Edwards Position: 1st Time: 2’02.175 Laps: 47 “Well I’m definitely feeling better than I did last time”¦I think everyone was a little bit rusty after the break but it’s ‘situation normal’ again now and I’m feeling much stronger on the bike. I’m pretty happy with today’s work; I’m already fast and the bike keeps on feeling better and better. Over the first 42 laps we did today we only used two different rears so it’s clear that the tyres are working well too. We concentrated on Yamaha stuff today and we made a huge step forward with the rear shock. We knew things still weren’t perfect in that area, but we’ve made a big change today and the stability of the bike under braking has improved 100% as a result. Tomorrow we’re going to focus more on tyres with Michelin and hopefully things will keep on improving.” Valentino Rossi Position: 2nd Time: 2’02.221 Laps: 40 “Today we worked a lot on bike set-up and we’ve tried a few different directions, focusing mainly on the new rear fork we have from Ohlins and on the braking. What we’ve seen and understood today is very positive and this makes me very confident about the next few days of testing. We decided to come back to Sepang, where there would be fewer teams testing, in order to be more relaxed and less focused on lap times. This is the way we are planning to work throughout the test. Anyway, my lap times are already fast so of course we’ll keep trying to improve in the next two days. Tomorrow we will concentrate more on working with Michelin and testing new tyres. At the moment we’re waiting for some new engine parts from Japan; we’re looking for more horsepower, but this is the bike we have and I am very happy about how things are going at the moment.” Davide Brivio Team Director “Today has been a good first day, in a nice relaxed atmosphere without too many other people around. Today we focused almost exclusively on set-up work and we had some new material to try, which has given our riders a better feeling with the bike. We’ve clearly improved the general set-up for both riders and also made some great steps on the braking, which was one of our key areas to work on during this test. We got some very useful information today, which we can continue to develop over the next two days, and I am happy with the results of our first day.” Unofficial Lap Times 1. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 2’02.175 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 2’02.221 3. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki 2’02.966 4. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Yamaha 2’03.219 5. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki 2’03.959 6. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Yamaha 2’06.558 7. Andrew Pitt (AUS) Ilmor 2’08.640 Sepang Lap Record (990cc) Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2006 – 2’02.127 Sepang Best Lap (990cc) Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2006 – 2’00.605