The smiles on Valentino’s and Viñales’ faces did not disappear on the last day of tests in Sepang, but they did fade a bit. After the outstanding start, the two Yamaha riders thought they’d leave the best for a grand finale, but not everything went as planned.

“We don’t know exactly what happened, but this is not the first time - Rossi explains - In the November tests in Valencia, for example, without changing anything from one day to the next, everything changed. Today I lapped with the same bike as yesterday, with the same setup and even the same tyres, in the sense that they were actually the same ones I used yesterday, but the results are not the ones I would have expected.”

An unexpected surprise.

“I expected to improve on my time but instead I was unable to do so - he admits - Do you think the tyres could have been the problem? I don’t know. Maybe because the temperatures were higher today? Maybe one or two degrees. I won’t say I’m worried, but I want to understand why certain things happen sometimes. We collected a lot of data, so we’ll study it, but for now we have no idea.”

This does not mean that Valentino plummeted into a crisis situation in the space of 24 hours.

“I am still liking the new bike - he points out - Even if we struggled more today, I was still able to maintain a good pace and in the end these were 3 positive days. The situation is better than last year anyway, as are the sensations when I lap with used tyres.”

The ones who made the difference, at least on the flying lap were Lorenzo and his Ducati.

“Jorge did a great job and he will definitely be competitive, also because right now, the Ducati is probably the best bike - he explains - However, above all I see a very balanced situation in terms of race pace. The top 7 or 8 riders have a very similar pace. If we were to race tomorrow, there would be a big group at the front in Moto3 style, but the most important thing is that we would also definitely be in the mix.”

VIÑALES: I THOUGHT I’D BE FASTER - Viñales also shares Valentino’s doubts. The Spaniard, like his teammate, hopes that the data will reveal an answer. “We collected a lot, so now we need to study it” he says. Not everything went the right way for him either, beginning from the race simulation.

“I stopped after 8 laps. I didn’t feel good in the saddle - he recounts - If I’m honest, I had hoped to maintain a better pace today. Yesterday we had done better.”

As he waits to see what the engineers discover, Viñales sees the glass half full.

“I like the bike and I am physically in good shape - he continues - We turned a lot of laps over these days. I worked on the electronics and on two new engines. I like one better. It lets me reach a higher top speed and at the same time it has a smoother power output.”

Now the ball is in the engineers’ court and we’ll see the team in about ten days in Thailand on the Buriram track.

“We’ll have other upgrades for the electronics there. I did a lot of tests over these past few days and we’ll decide which direction to go”, he concludes.