Qatar MotoGP test: Valentino Rossi concerned by speed

Valentino Rossi conceded he was worried about his slow pace at the end of a tough Qatar night test that left the Italian only 10th quickest on the final day.

The historic test under floodlights was a dress rehearsal for the season’s opening race at the Losail International Circuit on March 9, and grip and set-up issues left Rossi struggling to match the pace of Yamaha trio James Toseland, Colin Edwards and new factory team-mate Jorge Lorenzo.

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Rossi ended up 2.167s slower than Lorenzo as he struggled to lap significantly faster on a Bridgestone qualifying tyre than he did in race trim. And the set-up problems prevented him from completing an all-important 22-lap race simulation.

“I am a little disappointed and sincerely speaking I expected to be much faster,” Rossi said in an exclusive post debriefing with MCN. “We had many problems, which is a disappointment after I was very fast in Sepang and Jerez.

“It took us a long time to solve the issues I had, and we have some ideas to change before the first race. I hope that works because honestly I am a little bit worried now about the first race.

“We expected to be in better shape for the first race because this was not a very positive test at all. I am confident that we can be faster next week for the race and that is the most important. My confidence has not been dented but it would have been better to leave a little bit faster.”