Rossi 'not able to improve'

If Valentino Rossi hoped to leave Monday's Catalunya MotoGP test with the breakthrough needed to end Yamaha's one-year losing streak, he was to be disappointed.

Despite rumours earlier in the season of a major electronic upgrade at Barcelona to help acceleration, the Italian confirmed he had "nothing big or special" to try.

Instead, there were "two or three small ideas, small things that I hoped can help us in acceleration".

Those were thought to include a revised seating position.

But they didn’t work.

"Unfortunately, we are not able to improve performance and our acceleration," said Rossi, who was 14th fastest, 1.2s behind Honda's Marc Marquez, after 58 laps.

"I was like yesterday. Looking at the data and everything, we were not able to go faster.

"It's a shame. But it's like this. It's not easy. It's long work. So it's normal."

The Doctor - third in Sunday's race after Andrea Dovizioso's accident, but six-seconds behind the other Ducati of race winner Jorge Lorenzo - must now wait until after the summer break for major new parts on his M1.

"We hope in the next test, in Brno on the Monday after the race, to find something else," he said.

"And until Brno, we will race with the same bike as now."

Is the current bike good enough to win with?

"Ah… What do you think?!" Rossi laughed. "But we try. We try for sure!"

Rossi - who remains second in the world championship, but now 27 points from Marquez - will return to the scene of his most recent MotoGP victory during the next round at Assen.

Team-mate Maverick Vinales was ninth quickest at the test. 

The Spaniard didn't like the different seating position and his only progress was in terms of set-up to help his early race issues.