Rossi not hampered by injury

The reigning MotoGP champion needed stitches after falling onto a glass table when he tripped while closing a curtain at his home earlier this week.

He had been unsure if the injury would hamper him during testing, but completed 31 laps and was third-quickest at the Malaysian Grand Prix venue today before deciding to rest.

"I am very happy because I was able to ride the bike today, despite the stitches in my hand and foot, and I was fast," Rossi said.

"I am not 100 per cent because of the pain, but I have no problem to ride.

"I stopped quite early this afternoon because I wanted to keep myself in good shape for tomorrow and the day after. After some laps my finger was hurting and it was also beginning to swell up."

His teammate Jorge Lorenzo was also struggling with fitness at Sepang - although in the Spaniard's case he was simply rusty after the winter break.

"Today has been a difficult first day back at work," said Lorenzo, who was only 10th on the timesheets.

"My body is a little rusty after so much time off. In this condition it's quite difficult to be fast.

"I stopped quite early because I had already done a lot of laps and was very tired. Tonight I'm going to have a massage and try and get as much sleep as possible, and hopefully I will feel stronger tomorrow."

Despite their physical problems, both riders were upbeat about the 2009 Yamaha.

"I am happy because the bike seems to be better, especially the engine," said Lorenzo. "In Japan they have been able to improve the acceleration and with the new chassis as well the bike isn't moving so much on the exit of the corners."

Rossi shared Lorenzo's enthusiasm, but added that Yamaha still had to work on adapting the bike to the new mandatory Bridgestone tyres.

"I am also pleased because the engine is better and I feel very comfortable with the new chassis," he said.

"The bike needs to be gentler with the tyres now; normally I prefer harder tyres but from now on we're going to need to be 'sweeter' with them. For sure it will be good for the show, because everyone will be starting from the same level with tyres."