Valentino Rossi admits still running third in the MotoGP World Championship is an “achievement” considering Yamaha's problems this year.
This weekend's Thailand Grand Prix marks the longest win-less spell in Yamaha's premier class victory, after Rossi and Maverick Vinales' failure to win at Aragon saw its dry spell extend to 23 races.
Rossi has finished inside the top eight in all bar one race this season, which has left him third in the standings with a 29-point advantage over teammate Vinales and Ducati's Jorge Lorenzo.
The Italian – who was 12th on the combined times at the end of the Thailand pre-season test – admits Yamaha's current form will make it “difficult” to hold onto third in the remaining five races.
“Yeah, with the speed that we demonstrate during the season, to be in third position is a good achievement at this moment,” he said.
“I have 29 points of advantage on Maverick, but also Lorenzo, that especially in the second half of the season is very strong.
“It will be difficult to keep the third position, but we have to try and we'll see. Try to be constant and try to make some points.”
Lorenzo: Yamaha will return to form soon
Former Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo compared the Iwata marque's current woes to “cyclical” turns in form seen in football, but believes the team's “history” in MotoGP will see it return to winning ways “sooner or later”.
“I think MotoGP is a little bit like soccer in the way that this like a cyclical thing,” he stated.
“Barcelona, Real Madrid can have three or four difficult years, and sooner or later they come back.
“Yamaha has the history to come back, and I think sooner or later they will arrive. 2016 was a difficult year, because we started strong with the electronics, then Honda improve a little bit and they catch us.
“We were a bit inconsistent in the race, but we were very strong in some tracks. I got three or four victories, but we were strong in 2015 obviously.
“But as I said before, it's a cyclical thing and they will come back sooner or later.”
