Rossi makes Bridgestone debut.

I hope Rossi is back on form this year.

Considering this is his first day back on new tires,tender wrist, new data to be acquired third fastest on the 07 Yamaha I think Rossi is making a serious statement to rivals and the team. I ready for this challenge. Not taking anything from Stoner and crew, I can only say that he will have his hands full this year/ can he take the new Ducati to the next level or will he rely on the package to be that good again next year?

Rossi had the head hacho present at the test too to see for himself that he made a good choice to switch and what will be needed to be competitive for next year is it too early to tell? lets see how it pans ;) out

Rossi's feelings never lie, and the fact that he is happy with this start does mean he chose well; sounds promising...and brings back life to motogp

where are those rossi haters?

before the test they thought hes gonna be off the pace but look at the times, only .2sec under stoner(on a GP8) on his first outing on bridgestones that the yamaha had no data at all.. plus he was using the standard bridgestone tyres.. not bad at all..

i think that shut their big mouths out..

Too early to make any accurate predictions. I think it's safe to say that Stoner will be formidable once again on the Ducati. If Rossi wins it next year, yet again on a bike that wouldn't win in anyone else's hands, it will make a big statement. More than anything else, lets's hope we get some close racing !

2008 is going to be the season that 2007 should have been! Rossi vs Stoner... not Ducati and Stoner having, I wont say easy time, maybe comfortable time?... at the front.

Lets hope JT gives us some good racing aswell, one guarentee with James is that he will give 110% plus that little bit extra!

Lets face it all us real fans want is really close racing with nail biting finishes and with Rossi confident in his equipment it will make for a better deal for all of us

i thought 2007 was meant to be rossi vs pedrosa..and stoner was a surprise

Shut up WRX. It's predictable posts like that which just churn up the same polarised rubbish over and over again. Give it a bloody rest.

Stu - I'm with you.

Yes 2007 was meant to be Rossi vs Pedrosa in the run up to it.. however after Qatar, Jerez and Turkey I think it was pretty clear Stoner was going to be at the sharp end for sure and that Rossi would be the person to chase him, with Pedrosa being best of the rest! Rossi for 2008 title though Brigestone for their 2nd consecutive moto gp championship aswell! hahaha

I'm glad Rossi is up to speed and I hope the Bridgestones work out for him. I want to see him up at the front going head to head with Stoner and hopefully others will be there too. No real fan of the sport wants to see the same racer shooting off into the next post code at every race. I want to be see exciting racing from start to finish and let the best man win.

Its interesting that Lorenzo who has never raced MotoGp bike, and only his 2nd practice on the yamaha, using the socall inferior Michelin tyres laps only 0.7secs slower than Rossi.
Good to see JT up there with the rest of them, look like its going to be a great 2008 season

It is Lorenzo's 3rd or 4th test on the M1 I would expect him to be on the pace, they are not difficult bikes to step up to, Dovizioso has gone on record as saying they are easier than 250's because of all the electronics.

Looks good for the season ahead, Lorenzo is looking quick, as does ROssi and we know what to expect from the Ducati... So who is going to win...

Dovizioso says the M1 is easy to setup?, how does he know that then, freedom of information between teams?

Checa on M1/Dunlop was faster than Rossi on M1/Michelin at Qatar off-season test in end 2005. Checa was far more impressed me than Rossi on Bridgestone.

Stoner with only 35 laps, Rossi must have a lots of works ahead to set-up his Yamaha to match Bridgestone. Initially, it's not a good time and 2008 version has yet being tested. May be, he will having the same like Checa situation where 2005 M1 was far better with Dunlop than 2006 M1 that has chassis problems and destroyed his 2006 Dunlop success hope.

I agree..stoner was best of the rest on the fastest bike and unmistakable combo - with tyres, electronics etc...and rossi was third in the championship on the slowest bike and tyres that are falling apart and have strings flying off them in the middle of the race. hahaha...
i guess there are a few definitions of what you mean by the "best"...hahahaha

Uh tommo, he was talking about MotoGP bikes in general, and it says step up not setup.

Zydon - Stoner only had 35 laps cause he binned it and called it quits after that.

Good first results for Rossi.

Im sure that the Tech 3 team had the slowest bike and tyes not rossi, as edwards got a couple of pole postions this year, if rossi wins this year than far play, but he won 3 titles on the best bike/best tyres/best combo so lets not slag Casey of anymore for wining on the best bike