Rossi storms ahead on second day at Sepang Tuesday 6th February – Sepang, Malaysia – MotoGP Test The second Malaysian test of 2007 continued today at the Sepang Circuit, with seven riders upping the tempo on their adaptation to the new 800cc machines. They were greeted by the customary humidity present on MotoGP visits to southern Asia which, coupled with the absence of rain for the second consecutive session, allowed the teams to test out their newest prototypes under very specific conditions. Five-time MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi topped the timesheets on the Yamaha M1 800cc, a bike on which the charismatic Italian seems ever more comfortable. Working predominantly on development of the team’s Michelin tyres, Rossi clocked a time of 2’02.099 from 53 laps to put himself ahead of his team-mate and fastest rider from day one, Colin Edwards, by less than one hundredth of a second. Scarily for the rest of the competitors, Rossi yesterday proclaimed that the bike still lacks the horsepower he desires, and that further improvements are on the cards when they receive new parts from Japan. Despite suffering a light crash, Randy de Puniet managed to go round third fastest at Sepang, undertaking the most laps of any rider with 67 as he performed a race simulation on the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR800. Makoto Tamada continued to work with the Yamaha Tech 3 version of the M1, and was the quickest rider from the Dunlop-shod satellite team. The Japanese star was still under a second slower than Rossi’s official bike, which is an encouraging sign for Team Manager Herve Poncharal. Olivier Jacque joined team-mate De Puniet in putting in a large number of laps, essential for the veteran after a season away from premier class racing. Trailing him was the second Tech 3 bike of Sylvain Guintoli, the only rookie in MotoGP this season. It was another day of establishing a foundation for the Ilmor GP team. The newcomers to the premier class grid only have one rider, Andrew Pitt, testing for them this week, but are facing the challenge of developing the first 800cc bike to earn World Championship points with relish as they await the return to action of second rider Jeremy McWilliams who is recovering from a broken leg at home in Northern Ireland. All four teams will undertake a final day of testing at Sepang tomorrow, ahead of next week’s regrouping of the MotoGP grid for the Official Test in Qatar. Sepang Test: Day 2 Unofficial Times 1. Valentino Rossi- Yamaha Racing 2’02.099 53 laps 2. Colin Edwards- Yamaha Racing 2’02.118 44 3. Randy de Puniet Kawasaki Racing 2’02.554 67 4. Makoto Tamada Yamaha Tech 3 2’02.745 46 5. Olivier Jacque Kawasaki Racing 2’03.761 60 6. Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha Tech 3 2’05.002 50 7. Andrew Pitt Ilmor GP 2’07.923 – 47 More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Rossi and Edwards Set the Standard at Sepang Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards continued their relentless march towards the first race of the season with another promising day’s work in Sepang today. Having concentrated on trying new parts for Yamaha yesterday, it was Michelin’s turn today and the Yamaha Factory Racing riders spent most of the day testing new tyres, with the Malaysian temperatures providing the ideal proving ground for the latest generation of Michelin rubber. The Yamaha pair consolidated yesterday’s good work with another day of fast times, both dipping under the 990cc lap record pace on race tyres. Tomorrow both riders will complete a long-run, before the team packs up and heads west to Qatar for the next round of pre-season testing. Valentino Rossi Position: 1st Time: 2’02.099 Laps: 53 “Today we tested some new tyres for Michelin, both front and rear. We haven’t found any special improvements to the front since the last test, but for the rear we tried something interesting to improve the edge grip. I’m very happy because I think we’re working in the right direction and we have definitely made improvements in this area. We have also continued to work on the stability in braking, changing the set-up in order to improve this even more. Finally today we worked on the engine mapping, as this year fuel consumption is going to be a very important factor. I am gaining more understanding of this new bike every day and I have a really good feeling with it. Tomorrow we will make a long run in order to compare with our data from the last test, and it will be interesting to see how all the improvements we’ve made this week make a difference to the performance of the bike over a race-distance.” Colin Edwards Position: 2nd Time: 2’02.118 Laps: 44 “It was pretty warm today and I had to go out in the hottest part of the day to test tyres, so that was quite hard work! Anyway we got through a whole lot more stuff today and things are getting better and better. We tested a couple more new things for Yamaha and then did a lot of tyre work with Michelin. Looking back at the last test, just a couple of weeks ago, everything has evolved so much since then it’s amazing! We’ve moved forward an incredible amount over just five days of testing so far this year, so that bodes well. Last time here I was doing low 2’03s comfortably, but this time I’m doing low 2’02s lap after lap and they’re coming so easily, without me really having to push too hard at all. We’ve got a long run to do tomorrow and a few more loose ends to tie up, but we’re in good shape!” Davide Brivio Team Director “Today both riders focused on tyres and we had some new material from Michelin. It was a very interesting day all round. Generally speaking, in these two days we have made small but important improvements compared to the previous test here. Tomorrow both riders will make a long-run and we will see if these improvements will be crucial towards race-performance.” Unofficial Lap Times 1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 2’02.099 2. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 2’02.118 3. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki 2’02.554 4. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Yamaha 2’02.745 5. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki 2’03.761 6. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Yamaha 2’05.002 7. Andrew Pitt (AUS) Ilmor 2’07.923 Sepang Lap Record (990cc) Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2006 – 2’02.127 Sepang Best Lap (990cc) Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2006 – 2’00.605