Sepang Winter Test 2004
Location: Sepang, Malaysia
Date: November, 2004
Position: 1st (fastest over 3 days)
Rossi and Edwards began testing the new Yamaha at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia for the winter testing session in late November. Rossi ended the 3 day test as the fastest rider overall on track and things looked promising for when testing resumed in early 2005.
Rossi said:
“Weve been working on the new bike lots during these three days; it seems we do more and more testing every year, and start even earlier! Yamaha has put in a lot of effort to bring this bike here and enable us to start work on it in the right direction for next year, so it was very important for me to be here.
Not every part of this prototype bike is new, but Yamaha has changed a lot. We are aiming for more stability in the rear end, but we want to keep the sweet handling. We are also looking for a little more horsepower; as everyone knows, which is one area we need to improve on. We are still not quite there yet, but Yamaha engineers will continue this work during the winter and then I am sure we will be nearer our goal when we meet again in January. I am now looking forward to a long holiday! “
Rossi had a new helmet to show off for the testing sessions during winter 2004, and the start of 2005 – The design was based on a famous washing powder brand, complete with washing instructions on the rear of the helmet. The design was used to portray Rossi as a ‘cleaner’, and to make a statement on how he has ‘cleaned-up’, or won everything, in all the series that make up MotoGP (125cc, 250cc, 500cc, and now MotoGP). Either side of the helmet featured the word ‘Rossi’ in the design of a famous detergent and had the slogan “Rossi: Faster than this is impossible”. This caused some minor issues with Proctor and Gamble who owned the washing powder brand that the Rossi helmet was based on and they asked him to cease using the design. The back of the helmet featured ‘washing instructions’ at 46 degrees for victory in 125cc, 250cc, 500cc, and MotoGP.
Image Gallery of AGV Sepang Winter Test 2004 (‘Cleaning-up’) Helmet:
