Rossi sad to leave 2-strokes behind.

Daijiro Katoh's move up to the MotoGP class is proving a smooth transition as the Japanese rider continued to lap quickly at HRC tests in Jerez de la Frontera. On board the two-stroke Honda NSR500 he will ride in MotoGP next year, the 250cc World Champion set consistently quick lap times at the Spanish circuit, following on from a similarly fast performance yesterday.

After he had recorded a test best time of 1 minute 42.4 seconds, the Japanese 25 year-old remarked, "I have lapped very quickly, but I believe that I could have gone even quicker with a bike that was more adapted to my size and my way of riding. My weight means I am getting less feel from the suspension, and in this area we must improve in order to be competitive."

Meanwhile, the 500cc World Champion Valentino Rossi today returned to the NSR500 on which he won the title this year. The Italian had concentrated on the RC211V four-stroke bike during the first two days of tests, and remarked after his ten laps on the 500cc motorbike, "To leave the two-stroke behind is a shame, because it is much more fun than the four-stroke. In braking and in the mid-curve the NSR is still better than the RCV."

Rossi came through to set a best time of 1'42.8 today closely followed by his Japanese team-mate, Tohru Ukawa (1'43.0). The other HRC rider in MotoGP next season, Jurgen Vd Goorbergh, also improved his time, clocking 1'44.1.

Work got under way on tyre configurations at Phillip Island for official Yamaha MotoGP riders Max Biaggi and Carlos Checa. After having spent the first couple of days in Australia setting the bikes up to their individual riding styles the pair began the first steps to discovering which tyre compounds best suit the increased weight and horsepower of the four-stroke M1 bike.

After another 70 laps of the track Max Biaggi spoke of the tyres his Marlboro team tested today, "The 4-stroke requires a different sort [of tyre] because it weighs 15kg more and you ride it somewhat differently. For this reason, and taking into account that next year there will be three tyre manufacturers involved, the tyres are a factor which shouldn't be taken lightly."

World 125cc Champion Manuel Poggiali (Gilera) began tests today, also at the Jerez circuit in Spain, alongside Derbi's Youichi Ui.