Rossi: Two days to solve these problems.

Reigning world champion Valentino Rossi finished the first day of the official Barcelona IRTA test as the top Yamaha rider, albeit in just fifth place, and is eager to solve nagging front end problems and find more top speed in the two days that remain.

"We're having quite a few problems finding the right set-up and I haven't had great feeling so far, especially with the front," explained the Italian superstar, who was just 0.36sec slower than pace setter Max Biaggi after his 73 Friday laps. "I hope tomorrow we feel better. but we need to find a solution to this problem.

"We have to work on engine performance as well over the next two days and find out what's going wrong," added Rossi, whose top speed was 326.5km/h - compared with 334.6km/h for fastest Honda rider Makoto Tamada and overall top speed king Ducati's Loris Capirossi (335.1km/h). "Anyway, I am confident that the team will find out the way we need to go and we have two more days to get there."

Meanwhile, team-mate Colin Edwards appeared much more content; the American slotting into sixth at the end of day one - 0.364secs from Rossi - after totalling 71 laps.

"Catalunya is a very different style of circuit to Phillip Island and we were able to evaluate some different things with the new bike, although the actual material we had available was the same as the past tests," explained the former double WSBK champ.

"The long straight here has shown that we're probably a little bit down on top speed at the moment but we're making up for that everywhere else so I'm pretty happy with how things are going," he declared. "The grip isn't the best at the moment with the new surface but it just needs a while to bake and I imagine it will be much better by the time the race comes around here in June."

"This is a new track for us with the 2005 bike so it's the perfect opportunity for us to test out a few different things," added team director Davide Brivio. "Colin tested a lot of tyres again for Michelin and he rode smoothly throughout the day without too many problems.

"However, Valentino is still not completely happy with the bike and he is having some problems with the front end. Hopefully tomorrow we can work to find some solutions for him. In general it was a typical first day of tests," concluded Brivio, his words playing down the significance of any problems.

Testing continues until Sunday, when - despite his current problems - Rossi will look to repeat his success from last year in the BMW Award, a televised 40-minute timed session which is offering the prize of a BMW Series 1 car to the fastest rider.

Barcelona test times - Friday:

1.Max Biaggi ITA Repsol Honda 1min 43.158 secs
2.Sete Gibernau SPA Telefonica Movistar Honda 1min 43.254 secs
3.Makoto TamadaJPN Konica Minolta Honda 1min 43.347 secs
4.Marco MelandriITA Telefonica Movistar Honda 1min 43.433 secs
5.Valentino RossiITA Gauloises Yamaha 1min 43.518 secs
6.Colin Edwards USA Gauloises Yamaha 1min 43.882 secs
7.Alex Barros BRA Camel Honda 1min 43.902 secs
8.Loris CapirossiITA Ducati Marlboro 1min 43.974 secs
9.Carlos Checa SPA Ducati Marlboro 1min 44.102 secs
10.Kenny RobertsUSA Team Suzuki 1min 44.282 secs
11.Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda 1min 44.284 secs
12.Shinya NakanoJPN Fuchs Kawasaki1min 44.325 secs
13.Troy Bayliss AUS Camel Honda 1min 44.403 secs
14.Alex HofmannGER Fuchs Kawasaki1min 44.548 secs
15.Toni Elias SPA Fortuna Yamaha 1min 44.55 secs
16.Ruben Xaus SPA Fortuna Yamaha 1min 44.787 secs
17.John Hopkins USA Team Suzuki 1min 44.849 secs
18.Shinichi Itoh JPN Ducati-Bridgestone 1min 45.043 secs
19.Nobuatsu AokiJPN Team Suzuki 1min 45.727 secs
20. Roberto Rolfo ITA D'Antin Ducati 1min 46.331 secs
21.Shane ByrneGBR Team KR-KTM1min 47.152 secs
22.James EllisonGBR Blata WCM1min 47.663 secs
23.Vittoriano Guareschi ITA Ducati Marlboro 1min 48.217 secs
24.Franco BattainiITA Blata WCM1min 49.115 secs
25.Shimizu KazukiJPN Fuchs Kawasaki1min 56.136 secs

Comparative lap times:

Catalan Grand Prix - 13/6/2004:

Pole position: Sete Gibernau SPA Telefonica Movistar Honda 1min 42.596secs

Fastest laps: Honda: Sete Gibernau SPA Camel Honda 1min 44.641secsYamaha: Marco Melandri ITA Fortuna Gauloises Tech 3 1min 44.708secs Ducati: Ruben Xaus SPA D'Antin Ducati 1min 45.119secsSuzuki: Kenny Roberts USA Team Suzuki 1min 45.477secsKawasaki: Shinya Nakano JPN Fuchs Kawasaki 1min 45.532secsAprilia: Shane Byrne GBR MS Aprilia 1min 47.038secsProton KR: Nobuatsu Aoki JPN Proton Team KR 1min 47.739secs