ROSSI AND EDWARDS GET UNDERWAY AT FIRST TEST OF 2006
23 January 2006 - Yamaha Racing

Camel Yamaha Team Sepang test day 1

The Camel Yamaha Team launched its 2006 campaign today,
with the first of three-days of testing in Sepang, Malaysia. After
a six-week holiday the team is back at its favourite testing
venue alongside other MotoGP Teams from Yamaha, Ducati,
Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki. A cloudy morning with a few
spots of rain at one stage gave way to a sunny afternoon and
Yamaha’s Factory Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin
Edwards were able to complete a full day of testing on their
new 2006-spec YZR-M1s.

Both riders concentrated on getting a feel for the new version of
the M1, which they first tested in November last year. According
to the unofficial lap times, Rossi was fastest with a time of
2’02.14, after 74 laps. Edwards meanwhile had a fall in the
afternoon at turn nine, but was unhurt and able to continue
for the rest of the afternoon on his second bike, setting a
best lap of 2’02.61 after 69 laps.

Valentino Rossi (2’02.14, 74 Laps)
“It’s always a little difficult to start again after the holidays, and
I am never sure if I will be able to ride well straight away!
Today however everything has felt good right from the start
and I am already quite fast. The new M1 is a good bike, I like it
and I can see that Yamaha has worked very hard over the
winter. We had a few problems with it today; some chattering,
but in reality it is good for this stage of the year. We still have a
lot of work to do on it of course. The new bike is not so
different from the 2005 bike, but still we have to understand
completely its character and I have to get more confidence in
it, then we can begin to make the modifications needed in
order to improve it. Today has just been about understanding the
bike, tomorrow we will concentrate more on tyres with Michelin.”

Colin Edwards (2’02.61, 69 Laps)
“I came out this morning and felt good immediately. Straight
away I felt happy on the bike and could notice all the
improvements that Yamaha has made. I’m so accustomed to
the 2005 bike at this track, but it was clear today that the new
one is better in many ways. I am a bit out of practice after the
holiday but once I got going I felt very comfortable to be back
on the bike. After a few laps we began to play around with
some fork settings and spring rates and in doing so we lost a
little bit of feel. Then after lunch I had the crash…it was at turn
nine and I just lost the front on the brakes. It all happened
pretty slowly and I was fine, luckily. After that we didn’t have
time to go back to our good fork setting but anyway the times
were still okay. Despite the mishap today I feel like I want to
go faster and faster, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

www.yamaha-racing.com

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