"Rossi: I'm quite excited!"- x roadies

[More Pictures] Rossi: I'm quite excited! Monday, 18th February 2008 "I have a good rhythm and I am having a lot of fun riding the bike. I'm quite excited now about the start of the season!" - Valentino Rossi. There was no headline grabbing end to the official Jerez test for Valentino Rossi - who took fifth overall on a qualifying tyre and fourth with a race tyre - but the Italian says he's having fun and feeling 'excited' about the season ahead. After a late start due to a damp track, Rossi spent most of the final day refining set-up and tyre testing with Bridgestone, although the tricky track conditions hampered progress somewhat. "At the end of today it was quite cold which made things difficult, and generally the conditions have made our job harder for the whole three days," began Rossi. "Despite this I think we've done some good work; I have a good rhythm and I am having a lot of fun riding the bike. I'm quite excited now about the start of the season! "We have things to work on, especially our speed in the exit of the corner, which was worse today because we had less grip on the damp track. Overall though it's been good, and I think we've learnt a lot both about the bike and the Bridgestones, plus I have been quite fast both with the qualifier and the race tyres." Towards the end of the day the Italian, like most of his competitors, tried a qualifying tyre and it was with this that he completed his best lap of the three days, a time of 1min 39.568secs. That made him the top Bridgestone rider on Monday, although he was still 0.720secs slower than Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden. However, Rossi wasn't troubled by that deficit. "I didn't use the qualifier I like best here, so I am confident that when we use it in Qatar we can be faster," he revealed. Just one pre-season test now remains, at Qatar in ten days time, where the field will face two days of night testing in preparation for the season opener on March 9. "Now there's just one test left, which will be in the dark and therefore something quite strange!" said The Doctor. "We will focus on our final days of preparation and be ready for the first race."