Valentino Rossi was overjoyed - perhaps as much as onlookers were surprised - at the Circuit de Catalunya on Thursday as the MotoGP World Champion concluded his Ferrari Formula 1 test with a highly impressive lap time.
With Rossi borrowing the 2008 Ferrari as a reward for his latest, ninth motorcycle crown - his seventh in the top class - the start to the Yamaha rider's day was delayed due to heavy fog in the morning; however, the visibility soon improved as temperatures rose, with clear blue skies already gracing the track by noon.
With more than 600 kilometres (375 miles) notched up by the end of the two days, Rossi had lowered his Wednesday best effort of 1:25.200 to 1:21.900 on the penultimate lap - a improvement of 3.2 seconds in a day and, somewhat incredibly, only 87 thousands of a second off Kimi Räikkönen's 2008 pole position time in the same car.
"We saved the last three quarters of an hour to try a 'time attack' with little fuel and fresh tyres," 'The Doctor' explained, having enjoyed the run more than his previous Ferrari test at Mugello in November 2008. After winning last year's Catalan MotoGP event in stunning fashion - by passing team-mate Jorge Lorenzo at the last corner - the Italian expressed his love for the Montmeló venue.
"I would have given anything for such a lap time," he continued, with Felipe Massa due to take over at the wheel on Friday. "It's more fun here because it's a little bit easier. More effort is required at Mugello but this track here is really wonderful, with motorbikes and cars, although I have to say that Turn 10 is a little tight and you're braking much later."
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