Rossi: ‘The bike is more beautiful without the wings!’

Valentino Rossi has admitted that while he’s also not convinced about the effects that Yamaha’s aerodynamic ‘wings’ have on the M1, there’s another reason that he has used the feature much less than teammate Jorge Lorenzo; looks!

“I tried them again at the test, because they made a different design, but sincerely, I don’t feel any difference with them. I prefer the bike without the wings, though; it is more beautiful!”

The wings were one of a number of parts tried out by Rossi and Lorenzo as the factory Yamaha riders continue to work on a specification of machine that they will take into the 2016 MotoGP season.

Swapping between a 2015 M1, a 2016 machine and a hybrid bike containing the best of both at the Sepang tests last week, Rossi has admitted that the decision on developing one particular set-up will continue to next week’s Philip Island test at the earliest.

“The question mark that remains is the bike – more 2015 or more 2016. We will try another time in Philip Island, because the 2016 bike was very good at the end of the test.”

“Apart from that, though, our engineers have made good work with the electronics and Michelin have done a good job with the front tyre, so all in all a good test!”