Valentino Rossi has said that despite his good pace on the opening day of proceedings in Buriram that his focus is still being in the top ten through MotoGP free practice.

The Italian is in the midst of Yamaha’s longest winless streak and on the back of his worst qualifying on the Yamaha in over twelve years in Aragon. Despite his tough outing last time out in Aragon, Rossi found himself second fastest behind teammate Maverick Vinales during FP1.

Rossi was pragmatic about his opening free practice pace, aware multiple front-runners didn’t fit a new tyre at the end of the session. Rossi ended the day in ninth place after FP2, a position he feels is much more reflective of his pace in Thailand.

"On paper we expected to suffer, but today it was less than what we expect, so we are a bit more competitive," said the nine-times World Champion.

"This morning FP1 was fantastic because we were first and second but also because a lot of top riders don't put the new tyre. This is not the reality but anyway we can stay in the top ten for try to go directly in the Q2 and try to make better race compared to Aragon, better result.”

Despite being down in ninth, Rossi was only 0.3 behind Andrea Dovizioso’s fastest time of the day. The Doctor admitted that he is still struggling with his Yamaha, but the issues aren’t as bad as they have been in recent races.

"The situation is a bit difficult because at the end the bike is the same, but today we suffer less, and it’s better,” he said.

"I know Maverick made some bigger modifications to the balance of his bike. But we worked more normally. I don’t know if it's because of them, but Maverick is fast, especially this afternoon.”