Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi knows there is still work ahead of tomorrow’s Motegi MotoGP round to see if today’s setup modifications for qualifying will translate to the three-tenths of a second he needs to take victory in the race tomorrow.

The Doctor’s crew managed to find a setting which allowed Rossi to bag second place behind an extra-soft-tyred Andrea Dovizioso in qualifying and will use morning warm-up to translate the new settings to a race scenario.

“The second place and the start in the front row will be very important for the race of tomorrow. There are a lot of riders very close with a great pace so to start in front is great. We work hard with the team,” said Rossi, speaking at Motegi.

“There remain a question mark as in free practice four my pace was not so bad but nothing special, it looks like Pedrosa, Marc, the Ducatis and epsecially Jorge are a little bit faster than me but we improve a lot and I can push strong. For the race, we have to understand if the qualifying modify help me for the pace and improve three-tenths per lap.”

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