Assen MotoGP: Valentino Rossi waiting for electronics step

Valentino Rossi confirmed today that he is waiting for an electronics update from Yamaha as the MotoGP world championship leader claimed second on the opening day in Assen.

With Casey Stoner’s factory Ducati undergoing a huge surge in performance thanks to a new engine management setting he first tried in Catalunya earlier this month, Rossi confirmed Yamaha is working in the same area for his YZR-M1.

Searching for better traction when he opens the throttle, Rossi said: “We are waiting for the new electronics and I am trying force Yamaha to bring it.

“The problem is we might need to test it and we can’t do this before the summer break. The next chance is in Brno so we might have to wait, but I want it as soon as possible.”

Rossi was reasonably with his opening day performance in Holland despite finishing over 0.7secs adrift of Stoner, who dominated the British MotoGP at Donington Park just four days ago.

“For sure Casey and Ducati have found something and they are very fast. They have made a big step with the engine management, which helps him open the throttle.”

The 29-year-old, who holds an 11-point lead over Spaniard Dani Pedrosa going into Saturday’s 26-lap race, added: “Second place this afternoon is not bad at all, considering that this morning we had some problems.

“This afternoon we made some modifications and we started to improve quite a bit. We are still struggling in some points of the track however and this shows in the gap that we still have to Stoner.

“During this afternoon’s session we understood some interesting things, which we hope will help us tomorrow. Today, however, it seems like I am the leader of the ‘other’ championship!”