Yamaha factory riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards finished the second of three days of testing at Losail in Qatar today (February 7) still at the top of the time sheets, after spending most of the day testing tyres for Michelin.
Rossi completed 60 laps, posting a best time of 1min56.53, with Edwards close behind on 1min86.81 after a marathon 76 laps of the desert circuit. Yamaha Tech 3 rider Carlos Checa was third fastest, according to the unofficial lap times, setting a time of 1min56.95.
The works Yamaha squad will continue with one more day of testing tomorrow while the satellite Yamaha Tech 3 squad, the factory Suzuki and Kawasaki riders and Ducati's Japanese factory tester Shinichi Ito wrapped up their Qatar test programmes today.
"We managed many laps today," said Rossi. "In the morning we worked mostly on settings and we have now nearly fixed the chatter we were experiencing.
"We made some small modifications and the bike responded quickly; it is giving me a very good feeling now.
"After that we worked for the rest of the day with Michelin and tested most of the tyres that they brought with them; the new things they have brought here seem to be extremely good.
"Our main target is to keep the performance level of the tyre up after 15 or 20 laps; it seems we're improving in this area and our times were consistent throughout the day.
"With these new tyres and the new M1 combined we have much better stability and grip. We don't have most of the other teams testing here so it's hard to judge exactly
where we are, but I think anyway we are doing okay."
Edwards agreed: "Today has been great; we got going on the new Michelin stuff after lunch and they've made some great improvements.
We had some new things to try for Yamaha, but we mostly concentrated on tyres. I'm really starting to feel confident with the bike and believe in myself again.
"This is my first time in MotoGP with the same team for two years running and it's great not to have to worry about adjusting to a new bike and team at the start of the season.
"I can concentrate entirely on my race preparation without any distractions or worries and the new style I adapted to last season now feels totally natural.
"Tomorrow we're planning to do a long run and we have a few more tyres to test."
Unofficial lap times:
Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha - 1min56.53
Colin Edwards (United States) Yamaha - 1min56.81
Carlos Checa (Spain) Yamaha - 1min56.95
Chris Vermeulen (Australia) Suzuki - 1min57.87
John Hopkins (United States) Suzuki - 1min58.33
Shinichi Ito (Japan) Ducati - 1min58.85
James Ellison (Britain) Yamaha - 1min58.98
Olivier Jacque (France) Kawasaki - 1min59.46
- Qatar lap record: 1min57.903 (Nicky Hayden, Honda, 2005)
- Qatar best qualifying lap: 1min56.917 (Loris Capirossi, Ducati, 2005)