Valentino Rossi ended the Phillip Island test in P12 on the combined timesheets, although the legendary Italian was 11th fastest on Day 3.
After having followed the “wrong direction” on Day 2, the rider from Tavullia put in another 52 laps on the third and final day at the track – working on tyre degradation – but posted a best of 1:29.470; almost a second behind new timesheet-topping teammate Maverick Vinales.
“Today we worked a lot on the pace for the second half of the race, because we suffered in that area last year.” Said the Doctor.
“We tried something quite different, but in the end we didn‘t improve a lot, so we‘ll have to try something else.”
“I think the bike has good aspects, especially the engine, but for sure this test was more difficult for me than the one in Sepang.” Concluded Rossi ” I‘m not very happy and we need to try to do better.”
