Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/139559
P24 IN THE WIND exit we had a different setting. Now I understand the bike a lot more than at the start of the season and after a few laps I am now able to understand if we have a good setting or not. "Yesterday I concentrated on the coming GPs and tuning the bike in preparation. Then today I tested new parts, some items with Öhlins and also a new tire from Bridgestone. I was also able to complete 13 laps on the 2014 prototype machine. The first feeling was quite good and the engine has some improvement. With the chassis, there is also an improvement, but also some areas to work on but we didn't do any setup work on the bike. Anyway, this is a very good base for the HRC engineers to work from, but at the moment I prefer our current 2013 machine." PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE ROSSI PUMPED ON CHANGES Valentino Rossi was all smiles after last week's test in Spain. V alentino Rossi might not have left the two days of MotoGP testing at Catalunya and Aragon last week with the fastest lap times, but he may have left with the biggest smile. Rossi worked through a number of changes on his factory Yamaha M1 and may just have found a set-up that will prove to be a breakthrough for the rest of the season. The Italian legend has been struggling with frontend feel under heavy braking and it's hurt him most during the Saturday qualifying sessions. In last week's test, he spent the majority of his time working on improving his set-up on the M1 under hard braking. And it looks like his Jeremy Burgess-led crew might just have found something to cure his woes. "First of all we modified a bit the setting and also the front fork and now I feel more confident in braking," said Rossi after ending the test with the fourth best time. "I can brake deeper and stop the bike in a better way. For me this is the biggest improvement. After this we tried the swingarm like Jorge [Lorenzo] has; it's a little bit more stiff, which I like. We tried some other small things; at the end we made a good package that gives me a really good feeling, especially in braking. "I'm so happy because until today I didn't have this feeling in braking, I am always in a bit of trouble. I can't wait for Assen to understand if this is also improved at other tracks. It is important for the qualification lap because you have to push more in braking. This result is especially important here in Aragon as this is not one of my best tracks. I have not made great races here yet, but the pace today and the lap times at the end make me very happy." Rossi's teammate Jorge Lorenzo, the winner of the last two MotoGPs, ended up as the fastest rider at Aragon, the World Champion ending up .4 of a second quicker than Repsol Honcontinued on page 26