Valentino Rossi has again blamed a lack of rear grip for his MotoGP woes as the Petronas Yamaha man failed to make it into qualifying two.

The nine-time world champion finished seven-tenths behind fastest man Taka Nakagami in 15th place and will have to battle with Marc Marquez - who crashed in FP3 - Jack Miller, Pol Espargaro and the factory KTMs in Q1.

“My pace was a bit better than the time attack, also the time attack unfortunately on the good lap I touched the green. If not, I was two or three positions more in front, nothing special,” Rossi said at the track last night.

“My pace also is a bit better but I’m not fast enough. I have similar problem because I always suffer very much with the rear grip, especially after some laps. For me it’s difficult, the rear tyre, because I slide a bit too much.

“Today we tried different things, two different bikes, but the feeling is very similar. So, we are not able at this moment to fix the problem.”