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In Friday’s dry FP1, Movistar Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi finished sixth in the session, almost half a second behind leader Dani Pedrosa. Teammate Jorge Lorenzo fared better in the afternoon’s wet session than Rossi did.

Afterward, Rossi said: “I’m not very happy. This morning, with the dry conditions, it went not so bad. My rhythm was already quite good, but it wasn’t enough. I was not fast enough or strong enough to stay at the front, also because I wasn’t able to ride the bike in a good way, so we need to work. Especially, because in the wet this afternoon the situation was a lot worse. It was a very difficult practice and I wasn’t able to make the right speed to ride the bike in a good way, so the target is work, work, work. For Sunday we have to be ready for both conditions, because the weather here is very unstable and it could be either dry or wet. My bike had some chatter and we had to save the tyre, but I wasn’t able to get enough corner speed. I need more balance going through the corners to go faster.”

Photograph: ©2014 by Tony Goldsmith / TGF Photos – All Rights Reserved

[mgallery keyword=”Valentino Rossi”]