Valentino Rossi admits Yamaha didn't “find a lot of things” during tests at Jerez and Mugello last week, as it sought to find a cure to the electronic issues which severely impacted its Spanish Grand Prix.
Rossi and teammate Maverick Vinales took the chequered flag in fifth and seventh at Jerez, but would have been closer to the fringes on the top 10 had it not been for the high attrition rate ahead of them.
Both blamed their woes on Yamaha's ongoing traction problems caused by its electronics, and hoped a fix would come during a private test at Mugello, after Vinales said the team “improved nothing” on the Monday at Jerez.
But a lack of new updates at Mugello, as well as curtailed running due to rain, has Rossi believing Yamaha is on a 'similar level' as it was in Jerez, though expects to be strong at Le Mans this weekend.
“We arrive from a difficult moment because I am not very fast, very strong,” said the Italian.
“The test in Jerez and Mugello, unfortunately we don't find a lot of things, also because we don't have a lot of things to try.
“We work a little bit in Jerez on some small details, and after in Mugello was more for understanding the balance of the bike for the weekend.
“But in the end it was a just a half-day, because of the rain. So I think our level is similar as in Jerez, but usually in this track the M1 works well, in the last years I was always strong.
“But we need to understand this year how is our level compared to our opponents, and we'll see.”
When asked how long it will take Yamaha to resolve its issues, Rossi admitted the timeframe is unclear, and says Yamaha's performance is track dependent.
“For me sincerely it's difficult to say. I hope as soon as possible, but in Yamaha they work, but maybe we need to time to improve, to try something different.
“It's difficult to say; usually in the second half of the season you have one or two weeks more to work, but I hope to improve earlier.
“It depends very much on the track, like we see this year, the last two years.
“From one track to the other, it depends how the bike makes the tyre work in another way, so in one track you are in trouble and after two weeks in another, with the same bike and same material you can be faster.
“Now the level is very high and everybody is very close, so to try to stay in the top five you have to have a performance that is close to the victory usually.
“So we see and we hope to be more competitive than in Jerez.”
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