Brivio positive about Yamaha's progress

Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo have shown some encouraging speed during the three-day test in Malaysia and Davide Brivio is hopeful about the progress he has seen.

"This has been a very positive test and it's clear that Yamaha have worked very hard during the winter, so I would like to say a big thank you to all the engineers," he said.

"To everyone involved now it looks like we're on our way to fixing some of the issues and weak points which we had last year and we hope that at every test we will be able to make the same amount of progress.

"Valentino's level is already high but it's only the first test after the long winter break and so I am sure he will continue to improve as well. Now we look forward to coming back in ten days time to continue our programme."

Rossi said that work completed this week on Yamaha's pneumatic-valve engine had been encouraging, although admitted that they still needed to ensure it was bullet-proof in terms of reliability.