Rossi tops timesheet in Jerez

Added on Friday, November 28th, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor

Rossi: On top once again.

I am really happy I have finished at the top today, it's not a big thing but it gives a good feeling to me and all the team and means we can enjoy our holidays confident that we are in good shape!

World Champion Valentino Rossi prepared for the Wales GB Rally having topped the time charts in Jerez yesterday.

The Italian was one of only two riders to dip under the 1:40 mark at the official MotoGP test in Southern Spain, with local hero Dani Pedrosa being the other, 0.018 seconds behind Rossi.

Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo was chasing behind in 3^rd and it was a positive session for the Gresini Honda outfit, with new signing Toni Elias and Alex de Angelis claiming fourth and fifth respectively.

British rider James Toseland was the only rider on the circuit to record his best time in the morning session, ending up in 12^th position from the 14-strong field.

Ducati test rider Vitto Guareschi, standing in for the injured Casey Stoner, came in with the 11^th best time whilst the riders of Kawasaki and Suzuki were absent from the session, opting instead to test at Phillip Island

Speaking after the session, Rossi declared himself as more than happy with the progress that the team is making.

“The track was a bit drier today and so we were able to improve even more and do a great job,” said the 29-year-old. “We worked a lot on the new bike and tried some different parts to yesterday, including for the engine and we were quite fast. It seems we’re going in the right direction with this new bike and I am happy about this.

“I hope that the information we have gathered here will help the engineers to improve the bike and I look forward to the next evolution in Sepang. I think these first tests with the one-tyre rule have been quite positive and Bridgestone have done a good job so far, although for sure they will have a difficult job to decide which tyre for which track.

“It’s been a fantastic year and I am really happy I have finished at the top today, it’s not a big thing but it gives a good feeling to me and all the team and means we can enjoy our holidays confident that we are in good shape!”

Official Combined Test Times: Jerez

Pos	Rider	Team	Time
1	Valentino Rossi	Fiat Yamaha Team	1:39.429
2	Dani Pedrosa	Repsol Honda	1:39.447
3	Jorge Lorenzo	Fiat Yamaha Team	1:40.426
4	Toni Elias	San Carlo Honda Gresini	1:40.448
5	Alex De Angelis	San Carlo Honda Gresini	1:40.486
6	Nicky Hayden	Ducati Marlboro Team	1:40.486
7	Mika Kallio	Alice Team	1:40.564
8	Colin Edwards	Tech3 Yamaha	1:40.604
9	Sete Gibernau	ONDE 2000 Ducati	1:40.856
10	Andrea Dovizioso	Repsol Honda	1:40.966
11	Niccolo Canepa	Alice Team	1:41.077
12	James Toseland	Tech3 Yamaha	1:41.539
13	Vitto Guareschi	Ducati Marlboro Team	1:42.906
14	Yuki Takahashi	Scot Racing Team	1:42.918