MotoReview

Valentino Rossi, Camel Yamaha - 1st (1'42.477)

"To go so fast so early in the test yesterday was the big surprise to us, so today we have just built on that and continued to make improvements. We completed some more important tests and the base setting is good now - we had a few problems with chatter earlier in the pre-season but we seem to have solved those now and today the lap times became faster and faster. I'm also really happy because, to me, this bike feels like my daughter and now I can see it is going well for other riders - Colin and Carlos both love it. Looking at the time sheets this evening of course I am in with a good chance for the new car, but tomorrow is another day and we will have to see what happens. Hopefully the weather will stay as it has done for the last couple of days and we can complete the whole programme we had planned for this test in a positive way."

Colin Edwards, Camel Yamaha - 4th (1'43.388)

"We had a few things to test today and every step we made seemed to take us in a positive direction, so I couldn't be happier really. The bike is getting better and better and we just keep improving so that is all I can ask for. The cool track temperatures mean that we can't do much for Michelin here so we're just focusing on the bike and refining the setting as much as we can before Jerez. We played with the suspension and the engine mapping a little today but we had no major dramas and the 65 laps went by really quickly. Right now I feel we're ready to go racing so it's just a case of adding the finishing touches."

Shinya Nakano, Kawasaki - 3rd (1'43.245)

"This is a new experience, both for me and the team. In the past we have struggled to achieve a good result at this first European test, but today everything came together and we finished top three on the timesheet. For sure, we have to do the same tomorrow during the last day, but this result has provided a real boost to the team, all of whom have worked so hard to get us to this point. And we think there is more to come, because we still have a further evolution of the Ninja ZX-RR engine to test in Jerez next week. I also managed to do some tyre testing for Bridgestone today, but it is difficult to evaluate tyre performance when the track temperature is so low. Hopefully we can continue to improve tomorrow, although it looks like the rain that we managed to avoid today will definitely make an appearance for tomorrow's qualifying session."

Randy de Puniet, Kawsaki - 6th (1'43.847)

"This morning I was a little bit sore from my big crash yesterday, but the only place it was really noticeable was through the first split, where I was losing a little bit of time. This morning we concentrated on tyre testing with Bridgestone; with most of the tyres we tried offering some improvement despite the cold track conditions. Last thing this afternoon I tried a couple of laps on a qualifying tyre, and I'm happy with the lap times, but again I was losing a little bit of time on the first part of the track because of the soreness in my lower back and my ankle. I hope that it stays dry for tomorrow, as I'm confident that I can make further improvements before we head for the next test at Jerez."

Marco Melandri, Fortuna Honda - 12th (1'44.512)

"They've been two very tough days for us but we've still got a long way to go. I'm struggling to find the ideal feeling to enter the corners comfortably and I still need to improve my corner speed and line. Fortunately we've still got four days of tests left before the first race at Jerez. I'm disappointed we are not at the level we would like to be at but I think I can still look forward to this season with optimism."

Toni Elias, Fortuna Honda - 17th (1'45.782)

"Yesterday we saw one side of the coin and today we saw the other. This wasn't a great day for us even though we worked really hard to make it that way. We had a few grip problems and the track temperature didn't help much either. We can't use that as an excuse though because it was the same track for everybody. We tried a few different tyres without finding the ideal one but I'm sure we will find it through hard work. I actually felt more comfortable on the bike yesterday."

For more rider comments, see page two.