Yamaha's Valentino Rossi admits he is “still suffering” for endurance on both the front and rear tyres following the final MotoGP pre-season test of 2018 in Qatar.
The Italian said he felt better on his YZR-M1 at the end of Thursday's running than he did during the Thailand test, but later admitted Yamaha hadn't made any steps forward in terms of performance to where it was at the end of the 2017 campaign.
A late time attack for Rossi on Saturday put him second on the combined standings with a 1:54.276s and felt his pace was good, but he revealed he was only able to do half race distance before encountering a drop in grip.
“I'm quite happy after this test, especially this afternoon, because I think we work hard in the three days, also in the first part of today,” he said.
“This afternoon we put all together and I was able to do a very good lap in the second position, but also a good rhythm with a good pace. “But, you know, we are very, very close, there are a lot of riders that are very strong.
“We continue to suffer with the tyres front and rear, and I did just half race [distance]. From that point to the end, we have to understand what happens. So we will see in two weeks.”
Teammate Maverick Vinales struggled for much of the test, though made a breakthrough in the final hour of Saturday and leaped up to fifth on the timesheets.
During his race simulation he was also able to run at a more consistent pace, but admits he still can't “push like last year” when he topped the test at Qatar and went on to win the race.
“Well, in the last 40 minutes I think we found quite a big step,” Vinales commented.
“I felt good with the bike, not enough; I didn't feel at my 100 percent. So still there is room to improve. But anyway, we did three days a little bit lost, especially yesterday and today during all the day we lost the way, and I could not push.
“I was not even pushing at what I can push, so we need to keep focused and pay a lot of attention with the changes we do, because in the last 40 minutes looks like another bike.
“So we have to keep working, and as I say, don't lose the focus and keep attention what we change.
“I think right now if I was doing maybe another time attack I could make a really good laptime. But as soon as I went on the bike, I could keep a good rhythm.
“So I felt comfortable on the bike, still not 100 percent because I could not push myself like last year, to give my best. But I think after today we get more conclusions.”
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