Having only been confirmed as a Tech 3 Yamaha rider a week ago, Carlos Checa has had impressive pace at the Qatar test, being just over four tenths of a second slower than Valentino Rossi's unofficial lap record today.

Despite Checas lap time he remained fairly low key about his first test session on the Yamaha M1. "I am satisfied with this first test although of course we have many improvements to make. It's important to be realistic, even though the times have been good, and to keep focused and working hard. Obviously one of the main areas we need to work on is the tyres. They work well in these conditions and I am happy with the front, but we need to work a lot on the rear. We need to do as much testing as we can during the next days in Sepang to find the right mix and to find a better situation for the rear."Discussing the uncertain off-season he has had, Checa said "I really want to say thank you to Yamaha, Dunlop and all the other people who helped...Read the full article. (http://www.motoreview.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=102&Itemid=29)