Rossi improves in Qatar

Valentino Rossi knocked almost a second of his lap time to top his second day of testing in Qatar.

The World champion spent most of the session testing new tyres for Michelin putting in a total of 60 laps to set his best time of 1:56.53, almost a second and a half inside the lap record.

Colin Edwarss took the second fastest time on the second Camel Yamaha followed by newly signed Tech 3 Yamah rider Carlos Checa and Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen.

Fellow Tech 3 rider James Ellison finished the session in 7th.

Ellison: “I feel like I am improving slowly. I’ve had to change my style a bit but I am getting there. It’s been great to have Carlos here, I have really learnt some things from following him, especially about lines and the use of the rear brake.

“I hit a bit of a wall on Monday and Tuesday morning but once we got over that things have really got better. Now I am going about two seconds faster and, as I said, following Carlos and then Valentino a bit also today has really helped me to understand some of the changes I need to make.”

Rossi and Edwards will continue testing tomorrow without the other teams.

Unofficial times:

Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha, 1:56.53

Colin Edwards(USA) Yamaha, 1:56.81

Carlos Checa (SPA) Yamaha, 1:56.95

Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki, 1:57.87

John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki, 1:58.33

Shinichi Ito (JPN) Ducati, 1:58.85

James Ellison (GBR) Yamaha, 1:58.98

Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki, 1:59.46

Lap Record: 1:57.903