valencia test

After spending the 2008 season on an Alice Ducati, Toni Elias returned 'home' to the Honda Gresini team during the start of testing at Valencia on Monday.

2008 MotoGP Rookie of the Year, Jorge Lorenzo, said he is 'really happy' to have the same tyres as everybody else now, after riding with Bridgestone rubber for the first time on Monday at Valencia.

After a late start, new six time MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi experienced an early version of Yamaha's 2009 YZR-M1 - and the new single-tyre spec Bridgestones - during Monday's opening day of testing at Valencia.

2008 World Superbike Championship leader Troy Bayliss and Ducati Xerox team-mate Michel Fabrizio have both been forced to miss the two-day test due to injury, as has Sterilgarda Go Eleven rider Max Biaggi.

1. Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1min 11.000secs 92 laps* 2. Felipe Massa Ferrari-Ferrari 1min 11.662secs 81 laps* 3. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari-Ferrari 1min 11.850secs 108 laps*

The 20-year-old first rode a YZR-M1 during a secret test at Almeria during the MotoGP summer break, but Valencia marked his first time working with the factory Yamaha team - which will be restructured next season to allow Valentino Rossi to race with Bridgestone tyres, while Lorenzo uses Michelin

Repsol Honda riders Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa made their debut on the 2008 spec RC212V during Tuesday afternoon at Valencia, at the start of the first post-season test session.

The riders were 2007 World Indoor and Outdoor Trial champion Toni Bou and his Repsol Montesa-HRC team-mate Laia Sanz, the 2007 Women's World Outdoor Trial Championship runner-up - present at Valencia to experience Pedrosa's RC212V.

Carl Fogarty took to the saddle of the Petronas FP1 during Foggy Petronas Racing's first day of a two day private test in Valencia, Spain yesterday for further development of the Malaysian superbike.