MotoGP Official Test 2017: Rossi Working On Race Pace, Marquez ‘The Reference’

The first official test of 2017 did not go well for the Repsol Honda team and either of their riders did not top the timesheets until the first day at Phillip Island. But, Marquez's race pace was consistent throughout the test.

The Italian veteran also understood that Yamaha needs to work hard and called Marquez, "the reference." Since Vinales' switch to Yamaha, he was topping almost every test session grabbing the headlines. But Rossi has a different opinion.

The Italian said, "Vinales was very strong in Valencia and Sepang but if you check the times deeply Marquez was faster in Valencia, in Malaysia and today. So I think that he's the man to beat. On pace, he's always very constant and they work very much for the race with used tyres. I think he's the reference."

When asked about Marquez's downbeat comments about Honda, Rossi said, "He's making an understatement. You always try to say a little bit less or make it more negative because you always want to be the surprise in Qatar. Seriously, I already know that he's the fastest."

The Yamaha rider ended the first day of testing at Phillip Island in second behind Marquez. Rossi also said that he had a tough start to the day. He said, "We started quite badly this morning and suffered a bit too much.

"I didn't have a good feeling with the bike and every time I tried to push I didn't feel good. In the break, we checked the data and the team worked well to improve the bike a lot and in the afternoon I was more competitive. At the end with the new tyre, I did a good lap and second is OK. 1m29.6s for the first day is not so bad."

The veteran also believes that Yamaha's weak point is still the long-run pace. He added, "We have a lot of work to do especially for pace with used tyres. We have to work on the bike because first of all we still don't understand it 100% to find maximum potential."