Rossi frustrated after Malaysia test

From motogp.com

Valentino Rossi concluded the second pre-season Test of 2011 in Malaysia on Thursday less than satisfied, after failing to reach the aims he and his team had set out prior to the three-day meeting at Sepang.

Ending the third and final day 11th on the timesheet with a best time of 2:01.469, Rossi was 1.804 off Casey Stoner’s top time.

“We can’t be satisfied with this test because we didn’t reach our goals, which were to finish close to the top six and especially to reduce the gap to the front," he explained. "Instead, we’re 1.8 seconds back, and our rhythm is also lacking.

“After the first day, we thought we could do it. We had started well and were able to make the bike work with the hard tires, which is good. After that though, we didn’t take steps forward. Although we have some good ideas for the electronics that I’m optimistic will solve those problems relatively easily, I’m not as confident about the chassis set-up. We tried hard, but we haven’t yet managed it. I’m able to brake hard, but I’m still having trouble in mid-corner.”

The Italian’s cause was not aided by the fact that he missed Wednesday due to illness, and that placed an added pressure on the final day’s workload.

“It was definitely a disadvantage to only ride two days instead of three because we had to rush at the end and try many things in order to understand as much as we could,” he said. “We were prepared for that possibility, but it started to drizzle, making it impossible to push. There could be some good solutions for the future, but we weren’t able to confirm them.

"This circuit hasn’t traditionally been favourable to the Ducati. The next test is in Qatar, where the track is different, so we’ll see if we can go faster there.”