Nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi has described Portimao as both sweet and scary after a day's testing aboard a stock Yamaha YZF-R1M.

The Doctor, along with other MotoGP stars, was able to spend the day riding around the Portuguese track on street bikes before the season finale in November.

"Riding here is very interesting, because the track is beautiful and technically quite difficult," said Rossi.

"It’s a very strange track because of the many elevation changes. But it’s beautiful and the asphalt is good, it has good grip. You can enjoy it a lot when you’re riding here.

"It looked more difficult on television, a bit more tricky, but in real life it’s good. There are three or four points that are a bit scary, because you have big jumps.

"It will be difficult to keep a MotoGP bike in contact with the ground there, but in general it’s a very sweet track to ride, so I like it.

"It was also a good day for a test here, because we had good conditions, which is important when you’re getting familiar with a new track."