Rossi drove more than 300 kilometres yesterday, or 68 laps, expressing satisfaction after an end of day briefing with the technicians: “I'm happy. It was a good test, although it was wet in the morning and without grip I had some problems. Fortunately the dried off in the afternoon, I could use the slicks and improve my lap times.”

As Valentino Rossi prepares to get into the cockpit of a Ferrari F2008 in Barcelona for his second consecutive day of testing it has been revealed that Felipe Massa will take over the wheel of the car tomorrow for another acclimatisation run as the Brazilian continues to get ready for his awaited F1 comeback.

The start of Rossi's test yesterday morning was delayed slightly by a modification made to the driver seat’s position while, finally, a little bit of sun came out between the rain clouds, which had been circling over the Montmelò track since the early morning. The Italian reigning MotoGP World Champion suffered a couple of spins at the start of his first day of testing on board of a F2008 which had brought to the track by Maranello’s F1 Clienti department’s staff.

Rossi was excited to get back behind the wheel of a red single-seater after a long break since his last experience which took place at the Ferrari-owned Mugello circuit in November 2008. Due to a heavy thunderstorm the previous night the Catalan circuit was wet in yesterday morning, but the driver from Tavullia managed to adapt to the car and the track conditions almost immediately. The F2008, the single-seater used by Scuderia Ferrari to win the F1 Constructors' Title two years ago, can now be used after the end of a two-year embargo – due to new technology protection – and is now part of the F1 Clienti department which set it up for the nine-times MotoGP world champion as he conducted his sixth test behind the wheel of a Ferrari F1 single-seater.

Rossi drove more than 300 kilometres yesterday, or 68 laps, expressing satisfaction after an end of day briefing with the technicians: “I'm happy. It was a good test, although it was wet in the morning and without grip I had some problems. Fortunately the dried off in the afternoon, I could use the slicks and improve my lap times.” The fastest lap today was driven in 1.25.200. Today Rossi will go on the track again for the second day of the test sessions.

The F1 Clienti department's activities will end tomorrow on the Circuit de Catalunya, near Barcelona. After the two days of testing focused around the nine-times motorbike world champion Rossi, Felipe Massa will instead sit behind the wheel of the same car that he used, together with his former teammate Kimi Raikkonen, to conquer the F1 Constructors' Title in 2008. "As the car and the track were available I thought it would be helpful to go onto the track for a day to continue gaining confidence with the Formula 1," Felipe said. "After the days in Fiorano and Mugello this will be a nice opportunity to get back driving on such an interesting and challenging track."