Test a success for pleased Fiat Yamaha team

It was another productive day for Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi on their prototype M1 machines at the Valencia test on Tuesday, with the 22 year-old Spaniard topping the timesheet.

Both riders wrapped up their participation in the three-day test a day early with their Tuesday sessions, as they tested new evolutions of their bikes as well completing some laps on their 2009 machines to compare updates.

Recording a best lap of 1’31.939, and coming in 0.256s quicker than the rest of the field – which was led by Monday’s fastest rider Casey Stoner – Lorenzo was thrilled to have topped the timesheet.

“I am happy that we are so competitive here with this new version of the bike,” enthused Lorenzo. “I was able to do some very fast laps and it feels good to be the fastest on the last day of the season. There is a long time now until the next test and it is good for me mentally to know that I was fast today.”

Lorenzo continued, “We have worked on some electronics and the suspension, and we have compared the new chassis to the old one and taken a lot of important information for our engineers. I am so happy about my season; I've won three races, taken many podiums and finished second in the championship. I think this is a great achievement.”

World Champion Rossi, who recorded the third-fastest time of the day with a lap of 1’32.528, was also very satisfied with the progress in development that had been achieved.

“I am happy about what we have so far with the new evolution of the bike, because it's already faster and already feels better than the old one,” he said. “The throttle is easier to open and I think that Yamaha has done a good job so far. We were quite fast today and I'm happy with the work we have done over these two days. I think that we have given our engineers plenty to work on over the winter and I am looking forward to the next updates in February.”