Valentino Rossi left Barcelona after an Impressive test

After claiming 20 important points to maintain his general standings lead at the Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya, Valentino Rossi left Barcelona after a successful test on Monday.

Rossi and his Fiat Yamaha crew continued their work at the Circuit de Catalunya on Monday afternoon, following up Sunday´s crucial second place finish in the Barcelona race with five hours of testing at the Montmelo track.

Although he`s undoubtedly one of the greatest riders in the history of the sport, even he has certain weaknesses and is the first to admit that race starts are not his strongest point.

Fought Back

Rossi fought back from ninth position on the grid to finish second on Sunday having had set-up problems earlier in the weekend so the test was an important opportunity to work on settings, race starts and qualifying tyres.
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Rossi `s Catalunya new color, the Azzurri blue.

Valentino Rossi was sporting his new look in Montmelo, Friday morning. Check out the video at motogp dot com.

As announced yesterday, Valentino Rossi was running a very special paint scheme and leathers combination in the opening practice session for the Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya.

The Italian and his Fiat Yamaha M1 were decked out in the traditional blue of the `Azzurri´, his home country´s national football team set to open their quest for the UEFA European Championship title on Monday.
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Valentino Rossi takes seventh consecutive at Mugello

Valentino Rossi, World Championship leader took his seventh premier class home victory at Mugello, in a dominant display.

The script had been written, but it was still up to the Fiat Yamaha rider to perform when the lights went out. Taking the lead from 2007 World Champion Casey Stoner on the fourth lap, Rossi then set about creating a gap between himself and the chasing pack.

He did so with a series of increasingly faster times, and eventually crossed the line with a comfortable advantage for Mugello premier class victory number seven. His rivals must now wait another year to attempt to dethrone the `King of Mugello´.

The supporting cast to the Rossi show was headed by Ducati Marlboro rider Stoner, on the podium at Mugello for only the second time in his Grand Prix career. The result helps Stoner make up ground in the MotoGP standings, in which he maintains fourth place but narrows the gap between himself and Jorge Lorenzo.
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Rossi at buoyant confidence levels for Mugello after important test

Focusing mainly on working with Bridgestone during his 2 days stay in Le Mans, Rossi concentrated on qualifiers, Monday and race tyres, Tuesday, with his findings boosting his already buoyant confidence levels.

He has never doubted his own ability over the past two inconsistent and fruitless seasons, but the current competitiveness of his Yamaha M1 and his blossoming relationship with Bridgestone mean he `s looking particularly strong at present.

Hoping to maintain the momentum of successive victories at Shanghai and Le Mans in his home race at round six in Italy next time out, Rossi hopes apply more pressure on his rivals at Mugello by starting on pole for the first time with Bridgestone, having seen Michelin riders take a clean sweep of 5 straight poles thus far in 2008.
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Rossi `s hard work after celebrations continues

As recorded his 90th career victory on Sunday, Rossi remained 2 days at Le Mans, for testing, putting in 68 laps on Monday.

After equalling Angel Nieto´s career, total of 90 GP wins at the Alice Grand Prix de France on Sunday, Valentino Rossi continued to put in the hard graft in a post-race test at the French track.

Monday was the first of two days of testing for Rossi, who was the sole occupant of the Fiat Yamaha team garage, as colleague Jorge Lorenzo flew back to Spain after his hard-fought second place in France on Sunday, to continue the rehabilitation of his fractured ankles.
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Rossi : I´ll continue for one or two years with Yamaha `very likely´

Valentino Rossi, Le Mans racewinner and current MotoGP World Championship leader, moved one step closer, confirming his future, with Yamaha the most likely outcome.

Valentino Rossi´s future in MotoGP has yet to be decided, but the Le Mans racewinner appears to be heavily leaning towards an extended stay with the factory Yamaha team.

His current 2 year deal was signed before his Mugello home race in 2006, and a decision is expected to be made before the 2008 Gran Premio d´Italia Alice. Rossi hinted to channel TVE´s `MotoGP Club´, Spanish television, that it’s just a matter of negotiating terms with Yamaha for an extension to be confirmed, one that would see him riding for the Japanese factory through 2009 and perhaps beyond.
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