From a press release issued by Yamaha:

ROSSI TESTS PROTOTYPE M1 IN VALENCIA AS EDWARDS MAKES YAMAHA DEBUT

The Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha Team and several other MotoGP teams were hard at work again today at a test in Valencia, Spain, just three days after the final Grand Prix of 2004 at the Spanish circuit. Today was the first day of a two-day test for Yamaha’s Factory team, where Valentino Rossi was joined on track by his 2005 team-mate Colin Edwards. Rossi, along with Yamaha test rider Wataru Yoshikawa, spent much of the day testing the first prototype of Yamaha’s latest-spec 2005 M1 machine.

Rossi made the fastest unofficial lap time of the day of 1:33.45 with a total 62 laps under his belt, while Edwards made an impressive first-time Yamaha record of 1:34.56 and 75 laps.

“We tried the new bike today and it’s not bad,” commented World Champion Rossi. “I have quite a good impression of it. I’ve already ridden it well and especially because we tried new Michelin tyres and it went well with those too. It seems to me to be more stable, and the traction is more or less better. This bike definitely has good potential for acceleration, and the handling is still sweet. The biggest change is in the chassis. At this moment we are quite clear on which direction to follow with it but this is just the first test and we still have a long way to go. We have concluded our first test with the new bike and now we look forward to the next test later this month.”

Colin Edwards will continue testing for Yamaha at the Valencia circuit tomorrow.

UNOFFICIAL LAP TIMES:

1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1:33.45
2. Nicky Hayden (Honda) 1:33.46
3. Sete Gibernau (Honda) 1:33.52
4. Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 1:33.9
5. Carlos Checa (Ducati) 1:34.0
6. Max Biaggi (Honda) 1:34.3
7. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 1:34.56
8. Toni Elias (Yamaha) 1:35.48