Valentino Rossi's last day on track before the start of his home Italian Grand Prix saw the Fiat Yamaha star circulate with just three other riders during the final day of testing at Le Mans - two of whom, Ducati Marlboro team-mates
Casey Stoner and
Marco Melandri, then left at lunchtime.
Rossi and his crew made the most of the relaxed environment to continue testing tyres with
Bridgestone and to try out some new settings for the M1. The Italian's best time was set on race tyres and was an impressive 0.333 seconds quicker than the fastest lap in Sunday's race, set by Rossi himself on his way to a memorable 90th career victory.
"It was a nice quiet day on track today and it was good to have the chance to work in such a relaxed atmosphere, without so many other riders around," said Rossi's Fiat Yamaha team manager Davide Brivio.
"We finished quite early but we managed to get a lot of important work done, both on tyres with Bridgestone and on the general set-up of our bike with the next few races in mind. We tested more different tyres and also made some experiments with different settings, trying to collect as much information as possible to help us to continue to improve. The next eight weeks brings six races in close succession and so we need to be at the top of our game!
"Valentino did a very good time with a race tyre this afternoon so it's clear we're working well, and now we're leaving Le Mans with some great memories and with everyone feeling positive and motivated for the busiest stage of the season. Thanks to Valentino and the team for staying on and working so hard over these two days; now I hope everyone can have a good break before our home race!" he concluded.
Rossi has an amazing record at Mugello, having won every Italian Grand Prix since 2002. Free practice for the 2008 event takes place on Friday May 30.
