Yamaha may be putting all their resources behind Va꧟lentino Rossi and the factory team for the 2004 season, but it hasn't taken long for the sister Tech 3 outfit to feel the benefit of recent developments...

On the last day of the final pre-season test, Marco Melandri was handed the new, more꧅ user-friendly, engine specification for the first time - and will also be in possession of the powerplant at this Sunday's Africa's Grand Prix.

Despite heavy rain, the Italian immediately felt the benefits of the unit, rumoured to contain a 'big bang' firing order, a🐓nd was even able to cling to Max Biaggi's Camel Honda.

"Yamaha gave me a new engꩵine and I have to say thank you to them for this. I was riding well in the rain and Biaggi appeared on the track, just as the rain was falling very hard. I saw Max behind me and I allowed him to pass. It was difficult to stay with him for the first lap but after that I was able to catch him," he revealed.

Tech 3 team manager Herve Ponchara🐽l was also keen to express his gratitude for Yamaha's support - and revealed that both riders will have the new engine available from this weekend.

"We received one new specification of engine for Marco (at the test) and would like to tha✅nk Yamaha and especially Mr Furusawa and Mr Nakajima for taking this decision," said the Frenchman.

"The second piece of good news is that we will also have a new spec engine for Norick (Abe) for the beginning of the championship. This is a lot more than we expected at this stage so we are very grateful for this and hopef✃ully it will help Yamaha to get even better results," he added.