Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi believes testing at Phillip Island - even though the first day was hit by rain - is important as he was able to see how different the YZR-M1 behaves at the track and now knows he will have to modify the 2015 hybrid some more in order to get a good base setting.
The Italian only put in a handful of laps in the dry after working with the Michelin wets earlier in the day but he has already identified some areas in which setup changes need to be made.
It’s very important to come to Phillip Island with the Michelin because in Sepang the situation was very good. We had a very good feeling from the beginning. We can go fast. It looks like here we need to work more on the bike more to modify more. This is the first impression. I did seven or eight laps,” said Rossi, speaking at the track.
“It looks like the feeling here is different. It’s very important for me to understand at the three very different tracks, like Sepang, Phillip Island and Qatar to have an idea on what can happen during the season. It’s early to say so we are hoping tomorrow and Friday we can have a full day to try to understand our potential and the potential of the M1 here with the Michelin.
“Now also the slick has changed. In Sepang Michelin bring to us a different front tyre that gave us a lot more feeling compared to last year. Also we modify the bike and we improve the feeling. In the rain it is very similar. Sincerely in the rain the difference between the Michelin and the Bridgestone is quite small. It’s bigger in the dry. It’s also interesting to try the rain tyres.”