Valentino Rossi was the only rider to lap slower in second free practice at Le Mans on Friday, but insists he knows what went wrong and is confident of bouncing back into contention on Saturday.
Fresh from his debut
Bridgestone victory in Shanghai, Rossi was a fighting third quickest in morning practice at Michelin's home track, but then slipped to sixth in the afternoon session after a 'wrong turn'.
"This morning we started quite well, I had a good rhythm and I was able to be third fastest with a good time," reflected Rossi. "This afternoon to begin with it was also okay but then we tried some different things and it wasn't so good; we tried a tyre I didn't like so much and also a setting that didn't feel so good so overall the result was not great!
"We weren't able to improve our time from the morning but we actually learned quite a lot, which I hope will help us, so now we just need to work hard to decide what is the best way for tomorrow.
"I am confident we can improve. The weather isn't so good, with some spots of rain, but actually we expected worse for Le Mans, so if this is as bad as it gets I will be happy!
"It may rain properly tomorrow in which case we will have different things to work on; I would prefer it to be dry of course but we will have to wait and see. It wasn't a perfect day but we know why we didn't improve so we're not too worried," concluded the Fiat Yamaha star.
Rossi's rookie team-mate
Jorge Lorenzo meanwhile battled through the pain of the two fractured ankles he sustained in China and a small crash this afternoon to end the day fourth fastest in the combined standings.
