Factory Yamaha's Valentino Rossi was again disappointed with his MotoGP qualifying performance at Le Mans, slumping to the third row on the grip and citing problems with grip on a new tyre.
The Doctor started this weekend brightly and was fourth fastest in the last free practice at lunchtime on used tyres but when it came to the crunch with a new, soft Bridgestone, eighth was the best he could muster.
"Today was not a good day for us. Already we were struggling from this morning we had some problems with the rear tyre so we struggled very much in the practice. In fact the tyre had a problem because this afternoon it was not so bad. In the first part of practice was better, I was in fourth position," said Rossi, speaking at Le Mans.
"The bigger problem is that in the qualifying, the other riders are stronger and better to use the extra grip for the new tyre compared to me and I am unable to go faster and improve the lap time. My race pace is not so bad but unfortunately, Lorenzo, Marquez and Pedrosa are a little bit faster than me.
"Like the other races, in the qualifying I am unable to do what I want, when I try to push more I create some problems with the bike. The other riders are better than me to use the extra grip from the new tyre, so I have to start from the third row. My rhythm is not so bad so we have to try to fix something.”