Ducati's Valentino Rossi is mystified as to why he is able to run such a fast pace in the wet on his 2012 MotoGP Desmosedici but be so far behind his MotoGP title competitors in dry conditions.
The Doctor was second only to Dani Pedrosa in this afternoon's second free practice session and says he has all the feeling he needs under braking and turning in to corners when the circuit is wet but cannot get close to the same sensations when the tarmac is water-free.
Rossi is running one bike with a Jerez test setup and the second with Qatar settings, preferring the former and says that if conditions remain as they have been in practice or worse, he is looking down the barrel of a podium finish.
"I enjoy a lot more to ride this bike in the wet than the dry and this is very strange because usually it is a lot better to ride in the dry. For some reason in the wet I can brake and enter the corner how I want but I don't have the same feeling in the dry but we don't understand why. We don't understand why we have a problem in the dry and for the same reason we don't understand why we are so fast in the wet. Maybe it's for the same reason," said the Italian, speaking to bikesportnews.com this evening.
"Is a very good feeling to come back at the top and finish in second position. It is important for us, especially, because last year with the old bike I was always quite competitive in the wet so we have to confirm with the new bike that it remain the same. It looks like it is a good point of the new version.
"Now we have to wait for the condition of tomorrow and Sunday because it look like the weather forecast is quite bad but I think under the rain we are quite competitive. We ave to work a bit on some things and try to improve but I am already good with a good pace on the bike. For me, my feeling is we are really competitive in the wet so if the condition remain like this, we can fight for a good result. Unfortunately, I expect that if it is dry condition, we are not so competitive."
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