Published on Manila Bulletin (
mb.com.ph | Manila Bulletin)
March 5, 2010
Rossi smashes pole record in Sepang
Fiat Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi smashed his own pole record by almost three tenths of a second during the last day of pre-season testing in Sepang, Malaysia last week, proving that he and the new YZR-M1 are on track for the MotoGP season opener next month.
The Italian rider posted a best lap time of 2’00.271 beating the Sepang best lap time of 2:00.518 which he himself recorded last year.
Rossi spent the final day of the test trying electronic packages and a new tire for Bridgeston. He also had time to do a few laps on the Japanese test team's bike, providing them with important feedback for the future development of the M1.
The 31-year-old rider set his best lap of 2'00.271 on his 12th of 39 laps, with Casey Stoner second once again in a time of 2'00.512. It was a good day for Yamaha, with Tech 3 riders Colin Edwards and Ben Spies fourth and fifth respectively.
“I'm really happy to have beaten my pole record,” said Rossi. “It's a good feeling to be this fast in testing. I did this with an old tire but we also got the chance to try a very good new tire from Bridgestone today, which I hope we will use from the first race.”
“Our bike is in great shape. We need to do a bit more work on the electronics but in general everything is better, especially the rear grip and the engine. Yamaha have been very clever to develop this new bike whilst keeping the best parts of the old one, I'm very happy about it.”
“Now we go to Qatar and then we will see our level because it is not one of mine or Yamaha's best tracks! But we're in great shape and this is very important at this stage of the season. I'm really looking forward to it,” Rossi added.
The next and final pre-season test comes at Qatar on March 18, by which time Rossi's injured team-mate Jorge Lorenzo hopes to have made a full recovery and to be back in action.
