Yamaha Factory Racing’s Valentino Rossi made a strong start in the first session, getting quickly up to speed, finishing in second position just 0.091 seconds from the front. The nine-time world champion then spent the afternoon working through a number of set up changes to focus on improving tyre life and grip. He was able to increase his speed from the morning by just over half a second to take fourth, 0.306 seconds from first.
Valentino Rossi
“I’m quite happy with the first day, it was not so bad and we stayed with the top guys in the two practices. It's a very difficult racetrack to find the right settings. It is very physical for sure and Sunday will be a very long race. I feel quite confident with the bike, it’s not so bad but we have to try to do better and improve the balance, braking and acceleration. We are working to improve our performance as we are not so far from the top but we are not yet there. We hope to improve tomorrow to find a better balance for going faster and to get a good rhythm.”
Yamaha Factory Racing Press Release
