Vale had an excellent start to the day with the 2016 Yamaha, taking the lead by midday. He was then ahead of Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez, as well as his new teammate Maverick Vinales.
He then moved on to the 2017 model, but an unfortunate fall (not serious) prevented him from continuing his momentum. The 2017 being out of action for the afternoon, his team provided him with a Yamaha equipped with a 2017 engine mounted in a 2016 chassis.
But this bike was less competitive and Rossi had to be content with his time of 1'30.950, already very brilliant since it allowed him to occupy second position at the end of the day, only two hundredths behind his new teammate. Maverick Vinales, author of the best time. He completed a total of 47 laps on the day, with his eleventh fastest lap.
For Valentino Rossi, “ It was a positive day because I'm second and the lap time wasn't that bad, but I did it with the old bike. With the new chassis, the first sensations were good, but then unfortunately I crashed because I had put a hard tire on the front, which on the right side did not give our bike enough grip. I damaged the bike and didn't have enough time to try it again, so now the guys are working and I'll try the new chassis tomorrow and we'll see. »
