Rossi: 150 things to try tomorrow!
Seven time MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi was in a 'worse' physical condition during Tuesday's test session at Sepang than he had been at the end of last season, but joked that he has '150 things' to try on day two.
Rossi, who has switched to Ducati after seven seasons at Yamaha, was 12th fastest at the end of the opening day of 2011 MotoGP track action in Malaysia, 1.791sec behind former Ducati rider Casey Stoner (Honda).
Sepang marks the first time Rossi has been on a MotoGP bike since finishing 15th on his Desmosedici debut at Valencia last November. It is also his first time since major shoulder surgery, shortly after that test.
Rossi's Valencia feedback prompted a technical surge from Ducati, but Rossi's limited physical fitness means it is hard for him to work through the sheer quantity of developments on offer.
"I'm good... except the shoulder!" began Rossi, who is riding in full Ducati colours for the first time. "Anyway, I am on the normal time for recovery. It was hard surgery and needs time.
"My doctor said that if I wanted to be fit for this test I had to do the surgery after Sepang or Phillip Island [last year], so miss the last two or three races.
"But I wanted to finish the championship, so I expected this test to be difficult.
"I was quite negative after I tried the Superbike at Misano last week because I had a lot, a lot, a lot of pain. But we are happy today because I can make some important tests and good work for the bike.
"For sure I'm very far from 100 percent, but I can ride the bike."
Rossi revealed that the limited movement from his shoulder means he loses half a second on the straight simply because he cannot tuck himself in behind the fairing. Braking and turn-in is also difficult.
Despite his condition, Rossi stated that he was able to improve the front-end feeling on the bike, which is widely considered to be the Desmosedici's biggest weakness.
"We didn't try the new fork, but we improved the front feeling in some other way," he said. "We also improved the wheelieing and acceleration.
"The Ducati's DNA doesn't need to be changed; we have to take advantage of the positive aspects and improve the others.
"Here in Ducati they have a lot, a lot, of different stuff. Now we need to fix part-by-part rider position, handlebar position, footpeg position... This is the work we do now to have a good base."
Crash.net then asked Rossi what he will try tomorrow.
"Ahhh, 150 things!" he smiled. "No, we will continue like this, but we have some tyres from Bridgestone, different fork and some different stuff for the engine.
"We have a lot of work, but we have a 'short life', only 30-40 laps [to fit it all in]."
Rossi rode for 30 laps on Tuesday, the least of any rider except his Yamaha replacement Ben Spies, who completed 29.
Of the other Ducati riders, only Pramac's Randy de Puniet was quicker than Rossi, placing tenth fastest. Rossi's factory team-mate Nicky Hayden was one place behind Rossi in 13th.
"Nicky more or less says the same as me about the bike," commented Rossi. "He has some vibration more than us. For me the work that we do on the bike will also be positive for Nicky."
