Pedrosa: I want to take pleasure in the bike

Dani Pedrosa heads into the second-half of the 2011 MotoGP World Championship looking to make the best of his condition following his inspiring ride to victory at the Sachsenring over the weekend.

In only his second race back from injury, one that ruled him out of three races to all but scupper his title ambitions, Pedrosa was champion in Germany, boosting his confidence heading to Laguna Seca for the United States Grand Prix this weekend.

Indeed, the Spaniard feels the pressure is off for him now, enabling him to enjoy his racing, not least at Laguna Seca where he was a winner in 2009 and was in argument for victory last season when he crashed out.

Even so, the Repsol Honda rider feels the circuit's characteristics will mean he struggles extra than he did in Germany

"It was nice to stop, even for if only for couple of days at home to enjoy the win in Germany with my family and friends, who also deserved to celebrate.

“The United States Grand Prix will be another challenge for me. I know that I will suffer more in Laguna Seca because there are many hard braking areas and very fast direction changes. Anyway, it will be another race and I'll try to get ready well and enjoy it as I did in Sachsenring.

“The track is very different to the European circuits and the atmosphere there is special. With the exemption of last year, when I crashed, and in 2008 when I couldn't race due to injury, I've forever had fun racing in Laguna and the victory in 2009 was very exciting.

“In the second half of the season I want to enjoy the bike and gain the best results probable and would like to close the first part of the season with a good feeling.”

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Distress Rossi ready to ditch new Ducati

Valentino Rossi's fight back to turn around his Ducati fortunes hit a new low on Saturday at Sachsenring, when the MotoGP superstar capable just 16th out of the 17 riders.

Rossi's best lap time, of 1min 23.320sec came on only his sixth of 30 laps and was 1.639sec at the back pole sitter Casey Stoner.

The Italian - without crew chief Jerry Burgess for the second event in a row - also lapped 0.925sec slower than he had managed on his return from a broken leg at last year's event, when he skilled fifth on a Factory Yamaha.

Rossi, the only Ducati rider using the newest GP11.1 motorcycle - which features an 800cc engine attached to next year's (1000cc) chassis and a new seamless transmission gearbox - was almost one-second at the back the 'standard' Desmosedici of his team-mate Nicky Hayden (eighth).

As such, Rossi has now exposed that he could ditch the GP11.1 and go back to the previous version.

"We are very upset, because we are stressed very much this weekend. I am very slow and close to last," Rossi told the official MotoGP website.

"For three races now we've used the new [GP11.1] bike to try to get better on the performance of the old one.

"I tried this bike with the 1000 engine and it was not so bad, but with the 800 engine the bike became very hard to ride and I cannot load the front of the bike.

"So our show at the last three races has been very, very bad. Especially in practice. And here it has been worse.

"So now we think maybe to come back to the normal, standard, bike. I don't know when. Maybe after Brno [mid-August]. We will decide after tomorrow.

"We've tried changing more or less everything on the bike [here] and, at the end, the lap time and our act does not improve.

"So I don't know what we can do for tomorrow's race, but we won't give up and will keep annoying to improve."

Saturday marked Rossi's worst qualifying performance since he was 17th, out of 19 riders, for the 2007 Valencia Grand Prix - when he only finished five qualifying laps due to a massive accident.

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Rossi to create 250th grand prix start

This Sunday's German Grand Prix will see Valentino Rossi make his 250th grand prix start, across all classes.

Up to crashing and breaking his leg in practice for last year's Italian Grand Prix, Rossi had made 230 consecutive starts; an all-time record.

Rossi will become just the sixth rider in the history of motorcycle grand prix racing to reach the 250-starts milestone, as exposed in the following table.

The nine-time world champion is at present enduring his longest losing streak in grand prix racing, having gone eleven consecutive races without a victory.

Rossi's first ever grand prix, at the 1996 125cc Brno race, came in his eleventh start.

Loris Capirossi, who holds the all-time record for GP starts, is due to come back from injury this weekend.

Rossi, Capirossi and Randy de Puniet are the only riders in the top 15 start list to still be opposing in grand prix.

Carlos Checa, Max Biaggi and Marco Melandri are also unmoving racing at world championship level and now battling for the World Superbike title.

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Stoner on 1000cc expansion and riding style

Casey Stoner is the most victorious rider of the 800cc era. Since the 800cc motors were introduced at Qatar in 2007, where Stoner celebrated his first premier class victory, through last weekend's Italian Grand Prix at Mugello, Stoner had won 27 races. The greater part came in 2007, when he collected ten race victories en route to the 2007 MotoGP World Championship.

With a brilliant start to this season, the 25-year-old Australian has sustained to add to his tally. Through the first eight races Stoner has four wins, a second, and two thirds. The only time he's unsuccessful to finish on the podium was at the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez when he was knocked out of second place early in the race.

Stoner has been called the fastest rider by a number of his peers, counting team-mate Andrea Dovizioso. His five poles in eight races bear that out. But now that the 800cc era is drawing to a close, we thought we'd get Stoner's opinion on the move to the 1000cc era.

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Elias receives three-race ultimatum?

Toni Elias is reportedly under pressure to turn his MotoGP season around over the next three races or face the axe from his LCR Honda team.

The Spaniard, a former winner at MotoGP level, has endured a troublesome time since being rewarded with a return to the top flight as a result of his dominant Moto2 title victory in 2010.

Beginning the year significantly off the pace, though Elias has begun to set up some constancy in recent races, his results remain a far cry from the usual top ten finishes being achieved by Randy de Puniet last season.

Elias's position in the team is supported by Dorna as a way of promoting the reliability of Moto2, while Honda even complete a new chassis from the Catalunya Grand Prix.

However, sponsors are allegedly unhappy with the current results, which top out with an eighth place at Silverstone, and Elias is now under force to deliver over the next three rounds.

Furthermore, Elias is unspoken to have been experiencing a conflict of opinion with the LCR team over the set-up of his bike, a rumour apparently confirmed by LCR press officer Oscar Haro.

"Mugello was a disaster,” Haro is quoted by Catalunya Radio. “Toni has realized that it didn't go well. From Germany, [we go] back to the settings that HRC and our crew chief will make a decision and Toni to presume his role as pilot and technician. The RC212V has more than proven to be super competitive.”

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Capirossi needs to ride at the Sachsenring GP

Loris Capirossi will grit his teeth used for the ninth MotoGP World Championship at the Sachsenring circuit held on July 17. The MotoGP veteran’s physical condition is not 100%, but a statement from the team assures that he "is functioning hard these days to get to the race in Germany in good condition."

"I feel better, but my fitness is still not satisfactory. I'm doing daily sessions of physiotherapy at the IM2S Medical Center of Monaco. I've previously missed two races, Mugello was really vital to me. I want to ride the bike as soon as probable,” announced the Italian rider.

Capirossi broke his ninth and tenth ribs and continued a severe contusion to his shoulder from a crash that occurred in the Dutch TT qualifying session. These injuries banned him from participating in Saturday's race at Assen as well as the Mugello weekend.

Just after the Italian Grand Prix, former MotoGP rider Sylvain Guintoli hardened with the Pramac Racing Team as a probable replacement if Capirossi would be unable to ride at the upcoming World Championship round.

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Comeback race for Rossi and Hayden at Mugello

Valentino Rossi was left last at the start of the Gran Premio d’Italia TIM to find himself in twelth place at the end of the first lap, but aggravated by the enthusiastic crowd, he caught the group of riders in front of him and climbed to sixth place. The Italian had a better pace in the race than he had all weekend, thanks to a setup change that his technicians made previous to the warm-up.

Nicky Hayden had a great launch at the start and at once climbed to fifth place, but he went long in a corner and couldn’t stop on the dirty part of the asphalt. He went off the track and re-entered in last place. He climbed as high as tenth place after that, and even though he was disappointed by the lost opportunity, he was pleased that the work done over the weekend has helped him find a good feeling with his GP11.

Valentino Rossi:

"We have a bike that is dissimilar in many aspects from the one we started the season with. We’re aware that it needs to undergo further development from a technical point of view, but even at this stage it has shown that it has a good margin of enhancement just with setup. The weather didn’t help us at Assen, and the same was true here. We had imperfect time to work this weekend, so once again we made a significant setup change on Sunday morning. It was a step forward, and in the race I was able to have a better rhythm than in practice, although the enhanced behavior in corners was accompanied by a small loss of grip. Anyway, we think it’s a good direction to try in the future with our setup. I lost some time on the start because the clutch slipped, and I was almost last into the first turn, with a lot of ground to make up. It’s a shame because I’ve always managed to do well on the starts with the Ducati this year. Still, I’m not sure how long I would have been able to stay with Spies and Simoncelli even if I had started better. The gap on lap times was less than at Assen, which is optimistic, but it’s still quite large, about eight tenths. We have to keep working in arrange to stay with the Hondas and Yamahas. We’re all doing all we can, both us at the track and the guys at Ducati. It’s certainly a difficult situation, but to come here to Mugello and see all these flags and fans cheering forever provides a big thrill and gives us motivation to return to the front.”

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Hayden fourth, difficult sixth for Rossi

Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi ended the Air Asia British Grand Prix race fourth and sixth, correspondingly, with the Italian restrictive damage in a challenging weekend, while the American posted the fastest lap of the race and ended just off the podium.

With the help of his team, Nicky Hayden found a good setup for the wet race, the only restriction causing him to lose contact with the battle for the podium were the particularly unfaithful conditions of the early laps, when he came close to crashing his GP11 on a couple of occasions.

Despite starting from the last row and not being completely contented with his bike’s setup, Valentino Rossi made up several positions and rode a proscribed race, collecting ten valuable points to retain fourth place in the series standings.

Nicky Hayden:

“To be honest, I really liked my chances for a podium in the rain today; if you’d have told me before the race that I could have fourth, I’d have said, ‘No thanks, I can do better,’ but I’m not dissatisfied with my ride. I didn’t get a great start because the clutch was jumpy, and for the first few laps, it was hard to see and to get heat in the tyres. I had a big instant on the exit of Turn 1 and actually jarred my shoulder pretty good, but I tried to hang in there. I saw Colin in front of me for the podium, and I really pushed. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever had the fastest lap on a Ducati, which is kind of cool even if you don’t get points for it. Full respect to Colin a week after breaking his collarbone, but I still don’t like him beating me for the podium! Thanks to the team. It hasn’t been an easy weekend for us, but we reserved trying and got a pretty good chunk of points. We’ll take it and move on.”

Valentino Rossi:

“Without a doubt, this weekend was the most hard so far this season, but we at least managed to do a good job of limiting the damage. Considering how we came into the race, sixth place is a fairly positive result that helps us to stay not too far from the top of the standings in fourth, which isn’t bad. We knew that my lack of experience here compared to the others would hurt us, but it’s also true that we haven’t managed to get better our setup as well as we should have. In fact, today Nicky managed to have a nice race and ride well, even setting the fastest lap, which demonstrates that the Ducati is spirited in the wet. We didn’t get better enough though, and that made it hard for me, as the bike was difficult to ride and I couldn’t push hard. We’re all in charge - me, the bike, and the team - so together we’ll try to improve and return to the level we were at in Le Mans and Catalunya as soon as probable, and then take another step forward.”

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Stoner races to glory in Spain

Casey Stoner sustained to hunt down defending champion Jorge Lorenzo, claiming his third win from five starts in the MotoGP series in Barcelona on Sunday.

The Australian passed the Spaniard on the opening lap of the Catalunya GP to take the lead from Lorenzo, tapering the gap at the top of the championship standings to just seven points.

The victory adds to Stoner's wins in Qatar and France previously this year.

And it seems the power of Stoner's Honda is starting to anxiety Yamaha rider Lorenzo, who admitted post-race he didn't feel he could have beaten the Australian.

"The key was the start - I made a superior start," Lorenzo said.

"But I knew Casey could pass me in a few laps. He made it, and when he made it I tried to hang about with him for the maximum laps possible.

"This race was very vital for me to finish and keep leading the championship.

"So I think we have done our goal."

Stoner was more disturbed by forecast wet weather than his rivals, relieved that light rain on the track didn't turn into an all-out downpour before the race finish.

"I was starting to get very tense," the 25-year-old said.

"There was more rain falling in some parts, and each lap you came by there was a little bit more or a little bit less and you didn't actually know which corner it was going to be raining heavily on.

"I didn't really know what pace to run, I didn't know how bad the conditions were.

"So I pretty much coordinated myself to the people behind, and it seemed to work. But it was a high pressure race and to stay at the front was a little bit nerve-wracking.

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Rossi and Hayden inspired for Catalunya

The Ducati Team riders are keenly anticipating this weekend’s Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya, at a circuit they both enjoy.

Both Ducati Team riders like the Catalan Grand Prix, citing both the track’s layout and the large crowds that forever heat up the Spanish races. Valentino Rossi, who did not take part in the 2010 round due to injury, has scored wins at the track in every class, collecting an inspiring nine victories and a further four podiums. Nicky Hayden also made the podium in 2006, on his way to the MotoGP title.

Valentino Rossi:

“The Catalan Grand Prix is one of the nicest of the season, for a number of reasons: Barcelona is a beautiful city, the track is really nice – almost certainly my second-favourite after Mugello – and finally, as is always the case at Spanish races, the grandstands are packed with enthusiastic fans. I’m really happy to return to the track, since I had to watch the race from my house last year. I’ve always been quite strong at the track, so I have many nice memories, the most recent of which is the 2009 win after a great clash with Lorenzo. We’re very aggravated and we’re working really hard on the bike; step-by-step, we can see that we’re making progress. We know there’s still a lot of work to be done, but we need to keep annoying to get closer to the front.”

Nicky Hayden:

“Any race in Spain is huge, and Catalunya is no exemption. It’s a good track. I made the podium there in 2006, although I haven’t gotten the results I’d like there in recent years, particularly last season. I’m looking forward to it. The two weeks off have been okay, but I like this part of the season, with back-to-back races. The next month and a half is leaving to be busy, because this is when the season really gets going. Even though our end result wasn’t a lot better in Le Mans, I absolutely think we were closer to the front. Ducati hasn’t stopped functioning over the last couple of weeks, and we’ll see at Barcelona if we can keep going on the right path.”

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Rossi’s right-hand man: Uccio

Instantly recognizable as Valentino Rossi’s friend and confidante, Alessio Salucci – otherwise known as “Uccio” in the MotoGP Paddock – discusses his connection with the nine-time World Champion in a special interview.

How did the friendship with Valentino begin?

“It’s been a long time, it’s hard to remember! Vale’s been there since my earliest memories, our parents were friends and we almost grew up together. We’re from a little village and went to the same nursery, schools… we’ve always been very close.”

What are your earliest memories of Valentino?

“I have plenty! I remember that in nursery our friends often played football, but we would go to a downhill slope we knew and ride a tricycle down it! A group of us would go, me and three friends, one of whom was Valentino. It’s a memory that is well set in my mind, even at that age we were captivating big risks – there was a big turn to the left!”

How did the passion for bikes start?

“I was born around motorbikes, I have always loved them since I was a child. I didn’t like football, I liked (Kevin) Schwantz. It’s thanks to my father. In Pesaro everybody was a fan of Graziano (Rossi, father of Valentino) and because of this two-wheeled sport was more significant than any other. I did like F1, but I chose bikes because that was the path Vale took.”

What do you do during a GP weekend?

“My main role is to drive the motorhome to the races, even if this year it isn’t a motorhome but a truck used as a home as the old motorhome became too small. Over the winter we worked a lot on this new truck and I take care of it. It’s a big job as it’s more or less like a hospitality suite. I also take care of the leathers, gloves, boots, helmet… every detail so that Valentino can think fully on racing.”

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Stoner on track again with Honda 2012 prototype

The original plan was to have a one day test with Stoner and one with Pedrosa, however, due to the outcome of proceedings from last weekend in Le Mans with Dani's injury, HRC determined to complete one more day with Casey and test rider Ito Shinichi in order to finish the intended testing program.

With windy conditions and temperatures a little cooler than on Tuesday, Stoner ran 25 laps in the morning without any issues and Shinichi took over in the afternoon. HRC engineers were happy with the data acquired.

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MOTOGP: Rossi Scores First Ducati Podium

Valentino Rossi was satisfied as he not only put the Ducati on the box for the first time, but also beat former teammate/rival Jorge Lorenzo for the position.

The French Grand Prix saw Valentino Rossi score his first podium finish aboard a Ducati, following a race that was noticeable by excitement and surprises. Nicky Hayden started from the fourth row, but higher to seventh place by the finish.

The Italian renowned his third-place finish after a weekend of hard work and constant improvement, during which he and his crew increasingly improved the bike’s setup until finding a good compromise for the race. Sixth at the end of the first lap, Rossi stayed just a few tenths from Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso, who fought over fourth place until an event between Pedrosa and Simoncelli with ten laps remaining. At that point, the trio began battling over second place, and in the end, Valentino finished third, behind Dovizioso and winner Casey Stoner.

Nicky Hayden fought over sixth place with Ben Spies, and although he had to grant the position to his compatriot in the end, he was pleased with the development made over the course of the weekend.

In two days, on May 17, Valentino Rossi will be in action at Silverstone Circuit aboard a Ducati 1198, as the English track inaugurates a new paddock wing.

Valentino Rossi (Ducati Marlboro Team) 3rd

“We’re very satisfied with this podium because we’re on the right path, and especially because I had fun today. I rode the Desmosedici well, I was fast in the technical parts of the track, I felt good from start to finish and I had good lap times. This morning we made a last change to the surroundings together with Jeremy and the guys from Ducati, and it helped cut another couple of tenths. I knew I could beat Lorenzo, so that was my goal. I also passed Dovi at one point, but I got a little puzzled and made a move on the penultimate lap instead of the last one. I lost my concentration momentarily, but in short, he got me again. Anyway, it’s fine like this; I’m happy for myself, for my team, for Filippo (Preziosi), and for all the boys at Ducati. This result boosts our morale. We still have to keep working and civilizing though, because there’s more to be done. I also have to get better and keep adapting my style to the Ducati, because I’m still not riding it as I should, but in the meanwhile, we’ll enjoy today’s nice race and podium.”

Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro Team) 7th

“We didn’t do ourselves any favors by starting 10th, but actually, we made a little step forward with the bike today. I got a polite start but was just really tight and lost some time. As the race got going, I was able to move up a bit and slowly bring back Spies and Colin. Colin edwards crashed, but once I got in front of Ben, I wasn’t really able to get down in the 34s and get away like I needed to. Seventh isn’t a great result for us, but I would say that overall, it’s almost certainly been our best weekend yet. When the track was cold, I was able to go quite fast—always in the top five in those conditions. I hoped for better in the race, but I’m looking onward to the next stretch; we’re about to really get into the season.”

Vittoriano Guareschi (Team Manager)

“We’re pleased with this weekend because we’ve already benefited from the first changes that we’ve made according to Vale’s requests. We had a nice race, maintained a good pace and took part in a nice battle. The team worked very well on the setup, which we changed every sitting and took a step forward each time—including one in the morning warm-up. We still have work to do, because this is only the start; there’s still a gap to make up, but anyway, we’re going in a promising direction. Nicky also confirmed that his feeling with the motorcycle has enhanced, and he made good progress on the bike over the course of the weekend.”

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Barberá prepared to ride after injury

The Mapfre Aspar rider is ready for the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France following a vertebra fracture at Estoril.

Héctor Barberá heads to Le Mans with his self-assurance recovered and the news that the fracture in his vertebrae continued at Estoril has already fused. A crash on the opening lap of the Grand Prix of Portugal left the Mapfre Aspar rider in pain and not capable to ride in the test but within a week he was able to resume his personal training programme. The Le Mans circuit was the scene of one of his best results of last season - eighth place - and he is looking forward to option up on the excellent progress he had made previously this season before the Estoril crash.

Héctor Barberá:

“Le Mans is a circuit I like a lot and I tend to go well there. I had one of my best results of last season there and if I was able to do that in 2010 then I should be much enhanced this time around. After a crash on the first lap of the last race I am frantic to put it behind me this weekend, especially because I know I could have done well in Portugal so I feel like I have incomplete business. I am totally improved from the injury, I have been able to train and luckily there were no problems so I am very aggravated. The first sector at Le Mans stands out to me because it is so fast and I also like the final bend into the front straight.”

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Lorenzo fastest in morning test session at Estoril

Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo (Yahama Factory Racing) led at the midway point of the MotoGP official test session held at the Portuguese circuit, subsequent yesterday’s race. The test is split into two parts: 10.00 -13.00 and 14.00-18.00 local time. Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda) were second and third quickest correspondingly.

On a gloriously warm day in Estoril, Lorenzo was the first rider to emerge on track in the morning session. The reigning MotoGP World Champion’s quickest lap of the morning sitting was 1’37.170 which was 0.240s ahead of Edwards. The Spaniard was absorbed on new electronic components and working on the suspension of his factory M1 machine. The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider worked on the race setting from yesterday, as did Stoner. Edwards and his team were also trying to find more grip from modifications on the chassis.

Estoril race winner Dani Pedrosa called an early halt to his test session after only carrying out a few laps. The Spaniard tried a new clutch and worked on the race setting of his factory RC212V, but was in too much pain to carry on and will now rest in the lead up to the next MotoGP race in Le Mans. Pedrosa was fifth fastest, just over half a second slower than Lorenzo’s fastest lap.

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MotoGP action back on at Estoril

After an comprehensive break in the MotoGP calendar the premier class returns to action at the bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal this weekend, and there is bounty to watch out for at Estoril in Round 3.

Almost four weeks after the Jerez round – the extensive break being due to the postponement of the Japanese GP until October – the MotoGP World Championship returns to action at Estoril this weekend, where the bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal hosts Round 3 of the 2011 season. This will be the 14th time that there has been a Portuguese GP.

There was no lack of talking points following Round 2 in southern Spain, where defensive World Champion Jorge Lorenzo took his first win of 2011 in the wet, and was followed onto the podium by a Dani Pedrosa struggling with his recovering left arm and Nicky Hayden. Casey Stoner’s incapability to finish the race after being taken down in an incident involving Valentino Rossi, the latter of whom managed to remount his bike and finish fifth, merely added to what was a extremely eventful race at Jerez.

Yamaha Factory Racing rider Lorenzo has a frightening recent record at the Estoril track, having won for the past three consecutive seasons from pole position. The Spaniard has now finished within the top four for 22 straight races, and leads the early Championship standings by nine points in front of rival Dani Pedrosa. The Repsol Honda man arrives in Portugal hopeful that surgery right away after Jerez will have eased the discomfort caused in his left arm, and in spite of that he secured a 90th GP podium in the last round making him only the tenth rider to arrive at the milestone in the World Championship’s 63-year history. .

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Rossi and Hayden positive after Friday practices

Valentino Rossi posted the third-fastest time overall during the first day of practice in the Gran Premio bwin de España. The Italian set his quickest lap of 1’40.077 in the morning session, when situation were slightly cooler and not as windy. Nicky Hayden on the other hand, was among one of the riders who improved in the afternoon, when he finished ninth, a little less than a second off his team-mate, in the mutual results from both sessions. His fastest lap time was 1’41.058.

Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team)

“I’m happy because this morning I did the third-fastest time. In the afternoon when the senior temperature hurt us a little, I was fifth. Anyway, most of the riders went a bit slower in the second session. Apart from the two Hondas at the front, we’re earlier to everyone else, which was our goal. It was a good day. There’s still work to do; we’re trying to find the right balance, and that’s why we’re trying two settings that are a little dissimilar from each other as we work on weight distribution. We have to improve the feeling with the front a little, the bike that I prefer still doesn’t turn like we want it to, which means we’ll have to find a compromise flanked by the two set-ups. As for my shoulder, I don’t have much strength, but in terms of endurance, it’s a little better.”

Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team)

“We’re basically riding the same bike as in Qatar. Obviously with a couple of small tweaks for this track, you need a stiffer front spring and a few other modest differences. We feel closer than we were in Losail. We made a little step forward this afternoon and it’s good because only a few riders improved in the afternoon sitting, though the wind was a lot worse. It’s the same for everybody, but the wind was really brutal today, particularly around here where you’re leaned over in a lot of long corners. We’re still almost a second off of the front riders, but at least we’re inside a second, which wasn’t the case at Round 1. We’re not over here jumping up and down with joy, but we’re positive, and we’ll keep improving. There are a few places I’m lacking, but we’re trying to just make small gains and not make too numerous big changes.”

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Rossi: We are quite worried

Valentino Rossi couldn't hide his dissatisfaction at concluding the second Sepang MotoGP test in eleventh place, almost two-seconds from the top.

After feeling 'quite confident' following Tuesday's opening day, when he was ninth (on hard tyres) and one-second from the front, Rossi was then forced to miss the whole second day due to fever.

The seven time MotoGP world champion returned today eager to try and make up for lost time - and rode for 59 laps in the very tiring Malaysian heat. But there was to be small reward.

Rossi struggled with cornering and lost a further 0.8sec relative to fastest man Casey Stoner. There are now just two more days of difficult, at Qatar, before his first race as a Ducati rider.

“The first day was not so bad, because I was previously on the lap time of the first test [earlier this month] and we were one-second from the top,” said Rossi.

“We were quite certain for day two because we had a lot of things to try, like a dissimilar setting for the rear, some swingarm link, different suspension.

“I was quite hopeful to improve our lap time, then unluckily yesterday I could not ride so we lost one day and that made things more difficult.

“Anyway today I felt okay. I made nearly 60 laps and worked a lot on the bike, but unluckily we didn't fix our problem.

“We are not fast enough in the corners. We have a problem for rotating the bike, so I always have to slow down too much to make the first-class line. I cannot ride the Desmosedici in the right way.

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Stoner getting into the groove with his new team

Repsol Honda new recruit Casey Stoner ran a stunning final lap to better Valentino Rossi’s best lap time around Sepang Circuit with a sensational time of 2:00.171 to top the timesheets in the MotoGP pre-season hard for a second successive day.

Covering 42 laps for the day, the 2007 world champion bettered Rossi’s time of 2:00.271, which the nine-time world champion recorded previous year on his Yamaha M1 during the last day of the second test meeting in Sepang.

Rossi, however, was not at the circuit to catch that sparkling run by the Australian as the Ducati Marlboro new recruit had skipped yesterday’s sitting due to sickness.

Day Two was also a day that the three-man Repsol Honda team sent a strong message of their meaning to wrest back the world crown as the Australian team-mates – Spaniard Dani Pedrosa and Italian Andrea Dovizioso took second and third spots correspondingly.

Pedrosa clocked the second fastest time of 2:00.229 while Divizioso came in at 2:00.531 around the 5.543km track.

“We had a really good day today. From the start I felt more comfortable with the bike again, like I unspoken the bike a little better,” said Stoner, who switched from Ducati to Honda this year.

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All eyes on Valentino Rossi for 2011 MotoGP period

It has been a great knowledge going from watching MotoGP on my TV on a Sunday to expenditure race days in amongst it all.

I know people get overvalued up for the new season every year but I am really eager for this movement to start. It is the last one in the 800cc group and I think it is going to be one to remember.

Of course, the big news is Valentino Rossi's move from Yamaha to the Ducati team and I stayed on after the race in Valencia to watch his first laps on board the Desmosedici at the first authorized test.

There was a lot more press reporting than usual and everyone was waiting with bated breath for the rain to ease off and for the nine-time world champion to take to the track.

There is a lot of argue about what he will do on the Ducati this year and I think it will be very difficult for him to reconstruct his sensational winning debut for Yamaha at Welkom in 2004 or the following championship crown that followed.

I certainly expect him to be winning races but, with testing and development slowed by his recovery from a shoulder injury, I think it will be a rough start to the season for "The Doctor".

But if anyone can turn it around in an instant, it is Rossi. The other riders absolutely know better than to underestimate his chances.

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