Rossi is very motivated by his new life�just�like he was at�his�first test session, after the training�the factory bosses�expressed their admiration for the way in which their star works. Valentino Rossi left Malaysia, where he will return with the team from 12th - 14th February, with the knowledge of having fulfilled and much more confident than he could have hoped to be before the tests as he set a time below the track record and only three tenths off the pole that he set in 2003 with a Honda RC211V.

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"I had never worked with a rider like Valentino, able to make a complete technical analysis and to explain what we need in such a short space of time" said the excited director of technological development of Yamaha, Masao Furusawa. "We did not concentrate on looking for good times, but he is certainly impressive" added the Yamaha boss, Lin Jarvis. Valentino set his best time on the Monday,� a 2'02"7, that left him only two tenths behind the best Honda rider this preseason set by his great rival, Max Biaggi, with a 2'02"5 also in Sepang.

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"Our engine needs a little more power to be right, but the Yamaha is really much better than I expected. Randy Mamola said to me in Valencia, when he tried out both bikes, that Honda were a bit more advanced, but now I believe that we are not very far behind" Rossi explained. The Yamaha competition department has 200 people working on this project and Valentino also has his own team. "The integration of all the team with the Yamaha employees has been harmonious and now all we need to do is to continue working without any rest with what the development department has prepared for us" commented Jeremy Burgess, Rossi�s first engineer. This will be in the middle of February.

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