Yamaha Motor Italia test in Valencia

Yamaha Motor Italia riders Noriyuki Haga and Andrew Pitt were on track yesterday at a two day test at Valencia circuit, arranged by championship tyre supplier Pirelli for its official development teams.

Running time was limited after Monday's action was washed out due to heavy rain. Pitt was one of only four riders to brave the conditions, completing just a handful of laps on the slippery surface.

Day two saw the arrival of sunshine but the track failed to dry out in the morning, leaving just three hours of dry running. Both riders ran their R1s in virtually the same specification they finished the 2005 season with, the main evolutions being updated Ohlins suspension, which was tested for the first time, and some new specification tyres from Pirelli.

Despite the limited running time, both riders were comfortably faster than their times from April's race. Haga concluded the test with the fourth fastest time of the 12 riders present, a 1'36"6, while Pitt was seventh fastest with a 1'37"2. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) was fastest overall with a 1'35.7.

Team Coordinator Massimo Meregalli commented: "The bad weather reduced the time available and we were only able to get through a small amount of the work we'd planned. However it went well and this test has given us the opportunity to work with three new team members and for them to become familiar with our working practices. Next we have a test in Qatar early next month where we hope to have more track time. We ended the 2005 championship growing in confidence and for 2006 our intention is to be one of the main challengers for the championship title."