Rossi eager to capitalise on rostrum momentum

Valentino Rossi hopes to seize his chance to claw back some ground in the MotoGP World Championship at one of his favourite circuits this weekend at Assen.

Rossi achieved his last win and Yamaha’s most recent MotoGP victory at Assen a year ago and the Doctor boasts a terrific record at the legendary Dutch TT track.

The nine-time world champion is second in the standings after seven rounds, 27 points back on Marc Marquez.

Rossi finished third at Catalunya in the previous round to make it three podiums on the spin but the Italian rider did not find the improvement he had hoped for in the post-race test at the Spanish track.

“We don’t have a lot to try but we had some details, so I was optimistic to improve a little bit but unfortunately we did no improve on Monday. We tried some small details but at the end I wasn’t able to go faster,” he said.

“But this track is fantastic, I like a lot, and usually the M1 works well here. It looks like the weather is good, the forecast is optimistic for the weekend and it is fantastic because it is one of the tracks that you enjoy more when you ride in MotoGP. We will try, I arrive with some podiums, so we will try to continue in the same way.”

The weather is set to be warm and sunny at Assen over the weekend in contrast to the mixed conditions encountered in 2017, but Rossi does not expect the warmer temperatures to have an adverse impact on the performance of his Yamaha M1.

“I don’t think so and I hope not. Last year was very classic Assen because Friday was good but from Saturday always rain and it was stop-start, very difficult to work, and also because a lot of the practice was half and half,” Rossi said.

“I prefer like everybody, a good weekend that you can work, but anyway I don’t think it will be very, very hot, so I hope we can be strong with the Yamaha.”

Tyre allocation is also a talking point this weekend but the 39-year-old says he is happy with the range on offer from Michelin.

“I don’t think it will a problem. For me, the front is a good allocation because you can have the three options with three different temperatures but on the rear it is more open.

“Already last year it was a difficult choice between medium and hard and I saw a little bit the allocation this year and it has changed a little bit, the balance between right and left, so it is a bit different compared to last year.

“It will be very important, as always, to try to understand the best tyre for you and your bike, but I don’t think it will be a problem if it is too hot.”