Rossi feeling positive

From Yamaha Racing

SEPANG, MALAYSIA -- The second Fiat Yamaha Team test of 2008 began in Sepang, Malaysia today, with Valentino Rossi picking up just where he left off at the same track 12 days ago.

After several teams opted to test at Phillip Island last week, it was a somewhat depleted MotoGP field on track today and Rossi and new teammate Jorge Lorenzo shared the track with just seven other riders. Rossi topped the time sheets with a blistering best lap of 2:00.300, over 0.3 seconds faster than the existing best lap of Sepang, which the Italian set himself back in 2006.

Rossi set the time on a Bridgestone qualifying tire on his 62nd of 64 laps, but he also recorded improvements in his times with race tires as he continues development with his new tire manufacturer.

Lorenzo chose to stick to race tires today and posted the fourth fastest time with a lap of 2:02.654.

"Today was a positive day for us and I really enjoyed myself," Rossi said. "We started to work more on the bike and to adjust the suspension and balance to suit our tires. I have a very good feeling and the lap times have improved compared to last time, both with race tires and with the qualifying tire."

Results
1. Valentino Rossi - Fiat Yamaha Team 2:00.300
2. Nicky Hayden - Repsol HRC 2:01.949
3. Shinya Nakano - Honda Gresini 2:02.317
4. Jorge Lorenzo - Fiat Yamaha Team 2:02.654
5. Alex De Angelis - Honda Gresini 2:03.231
6. Olivier Jacque - Kawasaki Racing 2:03.655
Sepang Lap Record: Casey Stoner (Ducati) 2007 - 2:02.108
Sepang Best Lap: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2006 - 2:00.605