Valentino Rossi said his 2017 Yamaha MotoGP challenger is a ‘dangerous’ bike to ride in rain conditions after struggling to seventh in a wet Malaysian Grand Prix.
Yamaha has suffered with its factory M1 in the wet throughout the year, with Rossi failing to finish in a rain–hit Motegi race at the start of the month while team–mate Maverick Vinales wobbled around to ninth – the Spaniard doing so again in Malaysia.
The pair were sixth and seventh in a wet Argentina qualifying, and could only manage ninth and 11th at a rain–lashed Sachsenring pole shoot-out.
However, a strong warm–up at Phillip Island in iffy conditions for Vinales – who was second and just two tenths off the pace – hinted at an improvement in wet form.
Rossi admitted a wet race had him worried having once again encountered a lack of rear grip in Sepang’s weather–affected second practice, but felt set–up improvements he made between then and the race would have yielded a positive outcome.
“You know, I was worried but not desperate (when it rained on before the race) because Friday in the wet I had some problems,” said Rossi, who now holds a 12–point margin over Honda’s Dani Pedrosa in their battle for fourth in the standings.
“But I was sixth (on Friday) and sincerely we modify the bike a lit since then, and I was optimistic it would work.
“But, unfortunately, I had exactly the same problem as Friday. We don’t have any grip.
“It is very difficult to ride the bike, also very dangerous, and you have the clear feeling that if you try a little bit more you crash, like I did in Motegi.”
Rossi plummeted from fourth on the grid to outside of the top 10 in the opening stages of the race, but found some form in the second half to climb back up to seventh.
The Italian had hoped the Sepang race would have been a dry affair to see if the podium he achieved at Phillip Island was no fluke, and at least expected to make a slight improvement compared to his Motegi wet pace.
“It’s a shame, because we need a good result to confirm (the podium finish) in Phillip Island,” he said.
“I think that in the dry I was competitive; all the weekend I was quite strong. So I could do a good race I think.
“Unfortunately it rained, but you have to be ready in all the conditions.
“I hoped to do a step compared to Motegi, but in reality, no. So it remains very difficult, this bike.”
