A year of hard work finally came to an end for the Fiat Yamaha Team today with the last day of testing in Valencia. Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi finished the day first and third, signing off for the winter in strong form.
Both riders continued to work on the new evolution YZR-M1, as well as doing some laps on their 2009 bikes in order to compare the new updates. Lorenzo set his best lap towards the end of the day's work and was 0.256 seconds faster than Casey Stoner, with Rossi 0.333 seconds behind the Australian.
Having swept the board of trophies this season, the team will now enjoy a hard-earned break before reconvening at Sepang, Malaysia in early February for the next test.
Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 1st Time: 1'31.939 Laps: 62
"I am happy that we are so competitive here with this new version of the bike. 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 text and it is good for me mentally to know that I was fast today. 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 by us and now I would like to wish everyone a good holiday to recover so we all come back in February at the maximum ready to work again!"
Valentino Rossi - Position: 3rd Time: 1'32.528 Laps: 55
"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. 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 about 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. It's good to finally finish work and now we have some months to relax and recharge the batteries ahead of next year, which for sure is going to be a big, big fight!"
Test Times
1. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'31.939
2. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 1'32.195
3. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'32.528
4. Ben Spies (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1'32.942
5. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team 1'32.981
6. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 1'33.025
7. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1'33.111
8. Mika Kallio (FIN) Pramac Racing 1'33.125
9. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'33.211
10. Marco Melandri (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'33.326
11. Alex Espagaro (SPA) Pramac Racing 1'33.345
12. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Repsol Honda 1'33.456
13. Hector Barbera (SPA) Aspar Team 1'34.206
14. Marco Simoncelli (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'34.230
15. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'34.540
16. Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN) Scot Racing Team 1'35.261
Comunitat Valenciana: Record Lap
C. Stoner (Ducati) 2008, 1'32.582
Comunitat Valenciana: Best Lap
V. Rossi (Yamaha) 2006, 1'31.002