italiaspeed.com

The MotoGP paddock returned to action at Brno in the Czech Republic today, the first in a final run of seven races across four continents. Fresh from a well-deserved holiday following his stunning Laguna Seca victory, Rossi finished the day a close second behind Casey Stoner.

With the newly surfaced track adding an unknown factor to the day’s proceedings, the Italian was pleased to find his Yamaha-Bridgestone package working well from the start this morning and he finished the morning session first. With rain a possibility tomorrow the team were keen to get through as much of their tyre programme as possible today and so Rossi tried several different combinations this afternoon, which saw him improve his pace by half a second. He finished the day 0.179 seconds off Casey Stoner.

Jorge Lorenzo had a more difficult time on his return from injury and was only able to manage 11th in the combined standings.

Valentino Rossi

“I’ve had a good holiday but it’s fun to be back on the bike again! Today has started very well and I am very happy with my bike and with our tyres, it seems the Bridgestones are working very well here so far. The new asphalt is good, much better than last year and the grip improved throughout the day so I think that they have done a good job. Casey is strong again here so it looks like being a hard race, but we have made a good start. Tomorrow it seems it could rain, which is a pity, but we have found a good setting today so hopefully, even if it is wet, then we will be in good shape on Sunday. We have some small engine modifications here to try but mostly we will wait until Monday to try the new parts, when we will have an important test.”

Davide Brivio (Team Manager)

“It’s good to be back in action; we’ve made a good start and been fast all day. We’ve tried quite a few different things and some different tyres with the aim of collecting as much information as possible, in case it rains tomorrow. Of course we hope it doesn’t but there is a chance it will be wet and so we wanted to make as much of today as we could so that we are prepared. It’s been a positive day and we hope that we can continue like this.”