In the final round of testing prior to the MotoGP opener at Qatar on March 10, Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) again showed that despite losing the World Championship to Nicky Hayden, he is still very much at the top of his game on a MotoGP bike. Demolishing the existing lap record and running well under the Pole time from last year’s race, Rossi found himself at the top of the time sheets as the day drew to a close – his 1:38.394 lap just barely beating out Dani Pedrosa’s (Honda) 1:38.527. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) was third with a 1:39.300, leaving Rossi and Pedrosa as the only riders in the 1:38 range.
Rossi walked away from the Jerez tests with the keys to a brand-new BMW Z4 M Coupe, his reward for being the fastest rider in the final 40-minute qualifying session this afternoon. But more importantly (Rossi can easily afford a dozen BMWs), Rossi’s blistering speed here and at the other pre-season tests must have his rivals thinking that Nicky Hayden has re-awakened the Rossi juggernaut, as it seems that spending the off-season in the unfamiliar situation of NOT being champion has motivated Rossi to train harder both physically and mentally for 2007.
At the end of the 2005 season, Rossi seemed to be a little bit bored with his consistent championship-winning pace – to the point where he seriously considered leaving MotoGP to race F1 cars. What a contrast to today, when a re-motivated Rossi is working hard to make sure that he not only wins back the crown from Hayden, but becomes the first-ever 800cc MotoGP champion.
If the pre-season tests are any indicator of race speed (which they sometimes are and sometimes aren’t), however, Rossi will face one of the deepest fields ever. Can the man many consider the most talented road racer in history take back the championship he held for so long? The first chapter of this epic story is only a few weeks away, and we can barely wait to see how it unfolds.
