Rossi feeling good after 'positive first day'

Valentino Rossi is feeling strong after a solid first day of practice for the Dutch MotoGP at Assen, when the Movistar Yamaha rider finished fourth fastest.

Rossi, who achieved his and Yamaha’s last premier class victory in the corresponding race a year ago, was satisfied with his race pace and qualifying lap speed on the M1, although he is seeking an improvement in braking stability on Saturday.

The 39-year-old, whose best lap of 1m 33.779s left him four tenths back on team-mate Maverick Vinales, said: “The first day was quite positive because I was competitive in the morning and also in the afternoon; in the morning I put one new tyre and I finished third, so it means that my position is maybe not ‘real’, but in the afternoon everybody put the soft rear except (Marc) Marquez so I finished in the top four.

“The feeling with the bike is good and also the tyre, you can push, and with the different options you can have a good pace for more laps, so this is good. On the paper we are strong in Assen but until you go on the track it is impossible to say, but the start was good.

“It is also true that a we have a lot of different bikes and riders who are very close in the hot lap and also in the rhythm, so we need to work hard because I am still not very comfortable in the hard braking and we have to try to improve the balance of the bike,” he added.

“And also, as always, it is very important the tyre choice because it is very open and you need to make the right choice, so we hope that this weather continues for all the weekend.”

Elaborating further on the importance of tyre choice for Sunday’s race, Rossi said selected the best rear tyre will be crucial.

“Today, I tried all the three rears and I have some doubt on the front, but more on the rear; on the rear you can with three, but you can go also with the soft, but with the hard you are more constant and good until the end,” he said.

“It depends very much on the shape of the track for the race, it is too early to say, but for me the choice is open as always.”

In contrast to his team-mate Vinales this season, Rossi has been able to run a high pace on the very first laps and the Italian admits he is baffled why the young Spaniard is struggling at the beginning of his races.

“Essentially for me it is very difficult to understand why Maverick has a problem at the beginning of a race for the simple reason because I don’t know because I am fast, so I don’t know why!

“Apart from the joke, I know that they worked hard in the test and changed the balance of the bike and today Maverick was very fast and when he feels good with the bike, we know that he is very strong and very difficult to beat.”

A number of riders have been forced to alter their riding style to adapt to the Michelin front tyre, even if the company says it is the same tyre as last year.

Rossi, though, says that while he feels Michelin took a step backwards with the front tyre at the beginning of last year, his current feeling with the front is the same as it was last season.

“For me, at the beginning of last year, Michelin – on the advice of some riders – modified the front tyre but for me, we go in the wrong direction. At the beginning of last year the front tyre was not safe, for me personally.

“But after, from here (Assen) or Mugello, we have very similar (front tyre) to this year. It is true that the bike of this year is different from last year, but for me the feeling with the front tyre is the same.”