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MotoGP, Rossi: we've worked hard and solved little

Valentino only 12th at Phillip Island: "we have to take another path, I'm struggling with the used tyres and we still have doubts"

MotoGP: Rossi: we've worked hard and solved little

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Many changes, a lot of work but we haven't solved much” this is Valentino' disappointed summary after three day of testing at Phillip Island. The Doctor had made a good start, but was in 12th place today, and the news in terms of pace is not good either.

His result is even worse if compared with what Vinales was able to do on the same bike, and Rossi is not looking for excuses.

We've worked hard and tried many things, especially to try and find better pace with used tyres but to be honest I'm not very pleased - he admits - I've completed many laps and in the end I was tired and didn't even try to set a fast time".

What have you learned this week?
We still have doubts, there's work to do. We'll try to take a different path in Qatar, we have other things to test. The potential with new tyres is good, we need to improve the situation once they're worn”.

Are there particular sections where you suffer more?
Apart from the first sector, I will losing the same distance in all of the others”.

Has there been a step backwards with respect to Sepang?
In Malaysia I was able to set a good time and I was closer, if we look at the distance from the front it's gone a little worse here It was a more difficult test for me and I cannot be pleased.

Does Phillip Island offer useful indications?
“Kind of. This is a strange track but everyone was very fast and, like Malaysia, the fastest were Marquez and Vinales. So now we need to work to try and get closer”.

Vinales is making the difference…
Maverick was fast right from day one with Yamaha, he likes Phillip Island and is riding well".

Have there been any positives here?
The bike is not bad, we've worked on the electronics and the engine is quite good. But we have more to do, we'll see how it goes in Qatar and will try to have clearer ideas ahead of the first race”.

You mention doubts, do these also regard the frame?
I like the new frame and think Maverick is on the same page. We've worked to protect the rear tyre but to be honest after a few laps I was too slow”.

Have you had time to test the new Michelin tyres?
I've tried the front and the rear tyres and think there are good things there. But I was suffering particularly with the front tyres because they were too soft, but to be honest that wasn't my main problem”.

Translated by Heather Watson
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