MotoGP Phillip Island: Valentino Rossi “The Yamaha is going very well, I'm quite satisfied”

Valentino Rossi ended the first day of testing for the Australian Grand Prix in sixth position. The seven-time Top Class world champion, who will cross the 250 GP finish line on Sunday, said he was satisfied with the day of testing, given that his Yamaha M1 responded well to the setting changes at Phillip Island too.

The only worry of the rider from Pesaro is that he was not able to try the new asymmetric front tire brought by Bridgestone. In fact, when he was about to use it, his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo (who was using it) crashed and at that point the team preferred to let him go out with the traditional one.

Valentino, you're the only one who hasn't used the new asymmetric front, why this choice?

“I didn't use it, because just when we decided to mount it Jorge (Lorenzo, ed.) fell and so we opted for the traditional soft one.”

Could this be a problem for the rest of the weekend?

“If we can use the soft one it won't be a problem, but if we have to use it we will only have one available.”

How did you find yourself on the track?

“I felt very good on the bike, the Yamaha seems to be going very well and Jorge was also quite strong, so I'm quite satisfied. In the end we made a change to the setting and although I only ran two laps with it I had positive feedback, lapping in 1'29"9."

What will be important for the race?

“Especially tomorrow's qualifying. We have to be ready to start as far forward as possible and then we also need to work on the pace."

After this first day who do you see as favourites?

“On the pace, those in better shape are Lorenzo and Marquez, they are the ones a little faster.”

Today there were very "strange" crashes, does it depend on the type of circuit?

“We have three types of tires up front, one of which is asymmetrical. However, this track is very treacherous, you lean a lot to the left and as soon as you dive in to the right these things can happen."

This year you have a new technical chief (Silvano Galbusera) and today's news is that Dani Pedrosa will also change him. After your experience, do you think it could be a positive factor for him?

“It's difficult to say, every situation is different, for me it was certainly a good choice. However, it will be new and this could make him go faster."