MotoGP – Yamaha Australia test – Rossi: 'Today the weather conditions were terrible'

Here are the comments of Valentino Rossi, Colin Edwards and Davide Brivio after the first day of Yamaha testing in Phillip Island, Australia. The weather conditions affected the pilots' performance.

Valentino Rossi (1'31.38, 51 laps)
“Today the weather conditions were terrible – it was cold and raining and we weren't able to work as we would have liked. We worked a bit on the set-up and tried some tyres, but in this weather it's difficult to make any judgements. It was much colder than the last time we were here so we were slower. I hope it will be warmer tomorrow so that we can do more accurate tests.”

Colin Edwards (1'31.27, 60 laps)
“The track conditions were just horrendous; it was very slippery due to the rain that fell yesterday. I did 60 laps, but basically most of these served to rubberize the track a bit. We worked a bit on the set-up and tried some tyres, but it was so cold that the tires struggled to reach the necessary temperature. Two weeks ago we did a great job on this track, but now the feeling is completely different, however I'm sure that things will improve as the weather conditions improve!”.

Davide Brivio, Gauloises Yamaha Team Director
“Unfortunately the weather conditions did not allow us to work as we would have liked, but we still have two days to work and we expected to lose a day due to rain. The forecast for tomorrow is good. Despite everything, we still managed to do some work and collect some data relating to the changes to the set-up and tires that we are testing for Michelin. However, we need the temperature to rise in order to confirm these data.”

Unofficial times:

1. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 1'31.27
2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1'31.38
3. Ruben Xaus (Yamaha) 1'33.02
4. Toni Elias (Yamaha) 1'33.19

Yamaha MotoGP