Testing 2008 - Rossi sets Sepang pace

Eurosport - Tue, 05 Feb 17:49:00 2008

Valentino Rossi saw his name at the top of the timesheets for the first time in 2008 on the opening day of Moto GP testing at Sepang in Malaysia.

The five-time world champion has struggled so far this winter with Yamaha's updated M1, crashing last time he visited Sepang and taking time to adapt to Bridgestone tyres after eight years on Michelins.

But Yamaha clearly found something speed-wise since the last round of testing at Phillip Island, as the 28-year-old Italian set the pace in 2:00.300.

Today was a positive day for us and I really enjoyed myself," said Rossi. "We started to work more on the bike and to adjust the suspension and balance to suit our tyres.

"I have a very good feeling and the lap times have improved compared to last time, both with race tyres and with the qualifying tyre. It's a big deal changing tyres - not as big as changing bikes but all the same I have needed time to understand how to ride the bike differently and now I'm learning more and more how to get the best from the Bridgestones.

"My fitness has also improved compared to last time and this is also helping me to ride better, so I think that we're in good shape at the moment.

Former world champion Nicky Hayden was Rossi's nearest challenger - a massive 1.6 seconds slower on his Repsol Honda.

Proof that the team still have a lot of work to do to be competitive for the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix came as his poor time was achieved despite lapping 12 more times than Rossi.

Shinya Nakano was third quickest for Gresini Honda, but was lighting-quick initially as he found more grip than anybody else on a damp track.

Jorge Lorenzo on the second Yamaha was fourth while trying to get more feel from the front-end of his Michelin-tyred bike.

Rookie Alex de Angelis and Kawasaki test duo Olivier Jacque and Tamaki Serizawa brought up the tail end of the field.