MotoGP Official Test 2017: Rossi ‘Not Very Happy’ With Phillip Island Test

The Italian ended the day in 11th place and was 0.921s off the pace of Vinales' time. Rossi didn't do a race simulation or a fast lap on new rubbers, so we can't just jump to a conclusion that he lacks pace.

The nine-time world champion said, "I struggled quite a lot on both tyres, especially the front. For sure these conditions, this temperature is completely different to the Grand Prix, and [the tyre] was a bit too soft. But sincerely it was not my main programme."

He added, "We tried to work a lot on the pace for the second half of the race because we suffered last year. We tried something quite different but in the end we didn't improve a lot. We have to try something else.

"I think that the bike has good aspects, especially about the engine, but for sure this test was more difficult for me. So I'm not very happy, we need to try better in Qatar."

Rossi also opened his mind about how the three-day test at Australia went for him. He said, "We work a lot to try to improve the feeling of the bike on old tyres, we took a lot of data, we made a hard job, but in the end, we didn't fix our problems. So we have to try something else for Qatar."

"I'm pretty close, although Phillip Island is a strange track. Also here, like in Malaysia, the fastest were Marquez and Vinales. We will have to work to arrive closer to them."

Rossi concluded, "More or less I would say we are there, but in Malaysia, at the end, I was able to do a good time. If we look at the distance to the top riders, maybe here was a bit worse."