Rossi tops Qatar test

Valentino Rossi has finished his first day of testing at Losail, Qatar, well inside the lap record.

The world champion joined James Ellison’s Tech 3 Yamaha squad on it’s second day of testing alongside Suzuki riders John Hopkins and Chris Vermeulen and Kawasaki and Ducati test riders.

Rossi and team-mate Colin Edwards spent the day testing the 2006 M1 with new Michelin rubber ending the day happy with the improved grip the bike offers.

“With the new bike we have much more grip than with the old M1, but as in Sepang we have a tiny bit of chatter, so we are doing a lot of work with Michelin to fix that.

“Michelin have come here with many new tyres and so we are working a lot with them to test as much as possible. The new bike is already at a good level and now we are working hard on finding the right settings for it. I’m looking forward to the next two days.”

Meanwhile Carlos Checa fell on the second day of his Tech 3 debut, suffering concussion and returning to his hotel early, hoping to be back out on track for his final day.

Unofficial times:

Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha, 1:57.36

Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha, 1:57.52

John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki, 1:57.66

Carlos Checa (SPA) Yamaha, 1:57.94

Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki, 1:58.62

Shinichi Ito (JPN) Ducati, 1:58.90

James Ellison (GBR) Yamaha, 1:59.81

Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki, 2:00.43

Lap record: 1:57.903