Valentino Rossi revealed a small mistake in his pit box cost him the shot at another MotoGP pole position as he missed the chequered flag by just two seconds at Silverstone.

Pitting with a little over three minutes remaining, Rossi had hoped to get new tyres fitted and cross the line just before the chequered flag. Unfortunately for Rossi his Movistar Yamaha team just took too long to get the new rear tyre fitted and he missed the flag by a matter of seconds, resulting in the Italian starting from twelfth place.

Rossi was especially frustrated after what he described was a good strategy, suggesting he would’ve found himself on the second row had the mistake not happened.

“I was very upset because this time we have a really good strategy,” said the Italian.

“We have enough time but unfortunately we did a mistake in the box and we loose too much time to change the rear tyre and I miss the flag by two seconds.

“It’s a shame because I think there was 0.7 on the last lap and that was P5 and starting from the second row. The strategy was great, we had the right tyres, but unfortunately we did a mistake in the box and we are a little bit unlucky.

“So we have to start from the fourth row and it will be more difficult.”

The second qualifying session was delayed by nearly an hour after Rabat was airlifted to hospital after a nasty crash at turn seven when all bikes were aquaplaning off the track. Rossi said that he wasn’t in Stowe when Rabat crashed but said that the standing water is an issue.

“I don’t know very well, I understand there was a lot of water and a lot of problem with aquaplaning. Tito crash, Franco crash and then the bike from Franco take Tito,” he said.

“It’s a problem because the asphalt when wet is like normal wet; the grip is not so bad. The problem is that it’s not able to drain the water, so it stays on the top and we aquaplane.

“It means that if it rains very hard and you have a lot of water it’s dangerous. But I don think they can do anything for tomorrow.”

In spite of the MotoGP race being moved to 11:30 in a bid to avoid the worst of the rain, forecasts still look like tomorrows race will be a wet one, something the Italian isn’t too unhappy about after winning in the wet at Silverstone in 2015.

“Fortunately we did some laps and I feel not so bad with the bike, I saw that Dovi was a little bit faster than me but I was not so bad, the feeling is quite good,” said Rossi.

“But it is strange conditions because it was half and half. So for sure we have to work some more. But the first impressions are quite good.”