Valentino Rossi, back in action for the first time since breaking his hand in Valencia, tested his Yamaha M1 on Bridgestone tyres for the first time today at the Spanish circuit of Jerez.

The three-day test is the final test of 2007 and Rossi was joined in the garage by his new 2008 team-mate, Jorge Lorenzo, as well as the majority of the MotoGP paddock.

Rossi, his team and his engineers used today as a chance to get to know the Bridgestone technicians, whom they will be working with next season, and to understand the initial adjustments they need to make to the bike to suit the new tyres. Rossi’s comments were positive and, having started testing at midday on a sunny but cold day in Jerez, he completed 49 laps. Despite still suffering from some pain in his hand, the Italian’s best time of 1’40.514 was good enough for third and was just 0.293 seconds off Casey Stoner, who tpped the time sheets. Rossi’s new 2008 team-mate Jorge Lorenzo was seventh in a time of 1’41.230

Valentino Rossi (3rd, 1’40.514, 49 laps)
“My first comment about the tyres is positive, and this has definitely been a positive day for us in terms of times and my feeling with the bike. My pace was not bad at all, even though my hand is still hurting, especially in braking. Let’s say that I am at 90% fitness! I am happy with the choice I have made and I have great motivation for the task. Today it was also clear that there is a very high level of concentration from all the team members and this gives me even higher motivation, if possible. We have two more days, so it is not time for a final comment, but I am happy with the first day. Furthermore Furusawa-san is here, and this gives an idea of Yamaha’s commitment to improve and to return to the top. Let’s see how it goes tomorrow and let’s hope it can be even better than it wastoday.”

Davide Brivio –Team Manager
“Today was the day we have all been waiting for. It has been a very important day for us, because we’ve been looking forward to having the chance to confirm our decision. We also wanted to check Valentino’s physical condition after the crash in Valencia. At the beginning of the test he suffered a bit, but he went better as the day went on, even if we know he is not at 100% yet. As far as the new work with Bridgestone is concerned, we made a good start. Today we used all the time to get to know each other and to allow our engineers to interact with their technicians. We also worked to understand what kind of modifications we need to make to the bike, in order to make it work properly with the new tyres. Technically, of course, we have concentrated entirely on tyres and on understanding Valentino’s initial comments about them. It was a good day with good times and we look forward to continuing thework tomorrow and on Thursday.”

Lap Times

1. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 1’40.221
2. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1’40.355
3. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1’40.514
4. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 1’40.790
5. Nicky Hayden (Honda) 1’40.923
6. Alex de Angelis (Honda) 1’41.111
7. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1’41,230
8. Shinya Nakano (Honda) 1’41.277
9. Randy de Puniet (Honda) 1’41.313
10. John Hopkins (Kawasaki) 1’41.414
11. James Toseland (Yamaha) 1’41.776
12. Marco Melandri (Ducati) 1’41.889
13. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) 1.42.033
14. Nicolo Canepa (Ducati) 1’42.666
15. Tadayuki Okada (Honda) 1’43.051
16. Anthony West (Kawasaki) 1’43.576
17. Shinichi Ito (Bridgestone) 1’44.530
18. Vittoriano Guareschi (Ducati) 1.44.588