Rossi Admits Poor Bike Development from Ducati

Probably for the first time in the last decade, Valentino Rossi will come to Jerez not as a favorite for the win, but as a rider who is trying to find his rhythm in the MotoGP.

And it's not necessarily because of the pain he still feels in his shoulder, although that is indeed a factor, but also because Ducati has been the manufacturer to make the smallest progress as compared to last year in the MotoGP. At least that's the argument Rossi brings when trying to explain Ducati's struggling performances in testing and season start in Qatar.

“It's a difficult moment because we have different problems, the first is me and I need time to be at 100%, the second is the bike,” said the Italian racer on Thursday. “I need to be in a better condition and to ride the Desmosedici in the best possible way.”

“On the other side many of the other bikes, especially Honda, have taken a big step. Our bike is more or less the bike of last year and we need to do the same step,” added Rossi, who won no less than 6 races at Jerez during his tenure in the MotoGP.

Given his past success in Spain, Rossi believes this would be the best place where he and Ducati could improve on their 7th place finish in Qatar.

“I like this track, love the area of Andalucia, and there are always a lot of people here. Here we will try to improve on the Qatar result of seventh,” said Rossi, who admitted that he's looking forward to the 4-week break following the Jerez event to continue his shoulder recovery.