Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi will continue to use the updated frame he has been given by Yamaha after setting the third quickest time during MotoGP free practice at Assen today.
The nine-time world champion hasn’t been at the top of his game during the first two days of meetings this season, so the new chassis, which helps with braking stability, has helped him to secure fast, consistent times early on - which he needs to carry him to a good grid slot tomorrow instead of the third row.
“It has been a good Thursday. I’m happy because we worked well during the sessions and we found some interesting solutions. The first priority today was to find out which chassis we prefer, the new one or the standard one,” said Rossi.
“I feel good with the new one. My pace and my lap times were especially good this morning when I was in front, but also in the afternoon. Securing third position is a very good performance, because the first five to seven riders are really close in times. It’s a good way to start the weekend, but we still have a lot to do.
“It’s very important to use this bit of dry track time in Assen well, because we hope the weather will stay like this, but you never know. Now we will wait for tomorrow. Both the harder and soft tyres are not so bad for the race, it will depend on the conditions. If it’s hot, like it was today, you can decide to try the harder rear tyre.”
