Valentino Rossi bounced back from his title defeat by putting the new 800cc Yamaha on top of the post-season testing timesheets, at Valencia on Wednesday.
The Italian, who lost out on a sixth consecutive premier-class crown with his fifth lap fall in Sunday's season-ending grand prix, not only put the 2007 Yamaha at the head of the 800cc field - but was also the fastest 990cc rider, beating Sunday's best race lap set by Ducati's
Loris Capirossi, by 0.224secs!
That was enough to keep Rossi just 0.03secs clear of Fortuna Honda's
Toni Elias, riding a 990cc RC211V, who made an impressive start to his new
Bridgestone career by lapping 0.9secs faster than he had on Michelins during the grand prix - with team-mate
Marco Melandri a fraction slower for third at the end of day one.
Fourth fastest overall was Rossi on his 800cc machine, but Capirossi was just 0.01secs slower on the new 800cc Ducati. The Marlboro rider was 0.41secs slower than The Doctor's 800cc pace and just 0.03secs ahead of Rizla Suzuki's
John Hopkins, who completed the top six.
Hopkins and seventh fastest team-mate
Chris Vermeulen were riding with an 800cc engine in their 'old' 990cc chassis and so were delighted to have lapped comfortably inside their best 990cc race times after their first ever day on an 800.
Eighth fastest was the first of the Honda 800cc riders,
Dani Pedrosa, who first rode the RC212V at Motegi, while the Spaniard's 2006 rookie of the year rival,
Casey Stoner, was only 0.2secs behind on his factory Ducati, Bridgestone and 800cc debut.
Alex Barros completed the top ten on his
MotoGP return, after almost a year's absence - the 2006 WSBK race winner riding a 990cc d'Antin Ducati on Bridgestone tyres and lapping almost 1.5secs inside the best d'Antin lap, on Dunlop tyres, in Sunday's GP.
New world champion
Nicky Hayden was eleventh fastest, but still within 0.6secs of Rossi, on his Honda 800cc debut - while Ilmor gave Jeremy Mc
Williams and Andrew Pitt a test on its X3 as the new team evaluates possible riders for next season.
