Valentino Rossi admits Yamaha is still to “understand” how to get more from the M1 in the second half of the season, as it enters its longest winless streak in MotoGP.
Yamaha has failed to win in the premier class since Rossi's victory at Assen last year, 19 races ago, making this the Japanese marque's longest stretch without reaching the top step of the podium in the modern MotoGP era.
Having tallied up five podiums this season and moving into second in the standings – albeit 46 points down on Marc Marquez – Rossi concedes this season has been “not bad”, but is still searching for more as racing resumes in the Czech Republic this weekend.
“Under some point of view, five times on the podium out of nine races is not too bad,” Rossi said.
“Also the second place in the championship is quite good. The problem is I wasn't strong enough in the first part [of the season] to try to win, and the disadvantage compared to Marc is big.
“So we need to work. It's true that during the first half of the season the entire team, me and Maverick, are able to improve the balance of the bike and it looks like now we are a bit more competitive.
“But we still have to understand the way to go faster.”
Most of the paddock will remain at Brno on Monday for a one-day test, for which Rossi says Yamaha will have “something” to try, “but not a lot”.
Yamaha's main issue has been a lack of rear grip caused by the bike's electronics. Rossi admits this is the main area of focus for development, though more time is needed for a “bigger” step to be made.
“Yes, we have something, but not a lot. They still working very hard in Yamaha, but maybe we need a bit more time.
“But we have something for Monday, but especially we have to concentrate on the weekend.
“Last year was a good weekend, apart from the final result because I was quite strong in qualifying, and also in the race I was quite good.
“But with the flag-to-flag I stop one lap later, and I lose the podium. So I can fight, so this track is fantastic, I have great memories from the past in my career.
“So I'm curious to understand if tomorrow I'm already quite fast.
“We have [made] some small steps in this period, I think. But they need time, they need time.
“To have something bigger we need time, and we speak about different areas, but mainly electronics.”
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