If there was anyone happier than Valentino Rossi today at Sepang it was probably his hardcore fans. After two disastrous years with Ducati, the Italian had expressed doubts that he could still be competitive, but finishing fourth and 0.427s from the top during the first day MotoGP testing allayed his worst fears.
“I’m very happy about the first day of testing with the M1. After two seasons away I was able to come back on the bike and remember the good feeling I always had with it. I am also happy because I was quite fast from the morning. We worked on the settings to make some improvements and we made some good steps. In the afternoon we started to work on the new parts for the season. It’s just the first test but the potential is high and I am in a good position, I am in fourth place but not far from the other three guys. I am very positive that we can improve over the next few days but I’m happy with the start.” said Rossi, who used the 2012 M1 in the morning session and then used the 2013 spec engine and lapping only on used tires, in the afternoon.
The Italian was also asked about his rivals, “For sure the level is so high and for me it is difficult because I have to try to beat Lorenzo and Pedrosa, who are at the top of their career. I am older so I need to do more effort, but we are not so far.”
And on Marquez’s performance said, “Marc was incredible today. I knew he’d be fast but not this fast right away – I was hoping he’d be slower. I like his attitude it seems like he wants to win the championship on his first try.
Reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo finished second today at Sepang and was just 0.008s behind Dani Pedrosa. The Spanish rider was his usual metronome self, smooth as butter and consistent, despite declaring that his Yamaha needs to continue to improve in acceleration and reduce ‘pumping’ (which Rossi also said) and he tested a different chassis and upgraded engine.
“This morning I had to get the feeling again for the MotoGP bike but it didn’t cost me so much time as it did last year. When I got up to a good pace we tried some things we couldn’t try in Aragon, we need to work on it more. Some parts I liked, some things need more work. Tomorrow we are going to keep trying the things we tried today and also some new parts. Times are very close between Yamaha and Honda so we will try to improve our bike to be even better. We are still working on acceleration, we improved a lot last year but it’s still not our strongest point. I think now at this point consistency is one of my strongest points and I hope to continue that this year.”
Photos © Getty Images
via TWOWHEELSBLOG
