Nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi has admitted he has changed his riding style over the winter so as not to put so much stress on the tyres and says this has contributed to his fast pace at the Sepang MotoGP test.
The Doctor was second fastest and just two-tenths behind Marc Marquez, going under the feted 2’00 barrier for the first time in his career and finishing ahead of team-mate Jorge Lorenzo by just a tenth.
“I have tried to modify my style a little bit so it does not stress too much the tyre on the edge and try to stay more out of the bike and study the way to improve. With one year more experience of the M1 I can work on this. Before I was not at the limit of the bike, so I have to concentrate on something else but I feel good,” said the Italian, speaking at Sepang.
“I improve a lot compared to last year, especially in braking where I suffer last year very much. It is a positive test because we work well on the bike, the atmosphere in the box is good and Silvano work very well. I feel good with him. Especially today I was very fast and this is my best lap of my career at Sepang in 20 years and first time under two minutes so I am proud of this.”
Marquez set a blistering pace for all three days, finishing top of the tree and was also very quick over a race simulation. Rossi believes he can catch the youngster but needs to work on a few areas.
It is true that Marquez is faster, not just today but all the days, but I feel stronger and more competitive than last year. Now we have to work and improve. We have a lot of areas where we have to improve, we have a lot of stuff to try on the bike, some different things that we keep for the next test.
“I think that Marquez is impressive especially in the race simulation but he did that in the morning when the track is faster, so I think the difference is a little bit less. if we want to try and fight with him, we have to improve everywhere.
“My long run was good, I am happy. We have to work on the bike in the first lap as I have some problem and I am not able to use all the potential of the fresh tyres but after my pace is constant and I am not so bad. We have to work on every area, acceleration and braking and especially try to use the tyres in a better way without stress too much.”
