Rossi not happy with 2009 performances thus far

Fiat Yamaha star Valentino Rossi believes MotoGP’s visit to Montmeló on the outskirts of Barcelona will provide him with a good chance to make progress with his Yamaha M1 race package, noting the good weather expected for the Barcelona race weekend.

With three hours of dry practice expected on the first two days Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya the Italian hero wants to work at the maximum with Crew Chief Jeremy Burgess and the rest of his mechanics in order to be ready to fight for a victory on Sunday.

Rossi has never been off the podium at the Catalunya circuit but has not won there in the last two years. Likewise he has not been able to achieve a win in the last two races of the current season and since his triumph at Jerez he has slipped to third in the general standings – leaving Le Mans without a point and losing his Mugello winning-streak in third place at his home race.

“I’m not happy about my performances this year,” Rossi told motogp.com before the weekend’s action commenced. “In general I have been quite fast but not enough. From Friday we have to work harder and better on the bike and to ensure that come Sunday we are more competitive.”

Commenting on whether he felt the injured Dani Pedrosa would be a threat to him and the other MotoGP front-runners this weekend, Rossi revealed, “I’m quite confident for Dani because he is always fast here in Barcelona, but of course it depends on his physical strength and the pain. It looks like (Casey) Stoner and (Jorge) Lorenzo are in good shape, but also Dani if he doesn’t have too much pain will try for the victory.”

Asked about tactics and key areas to make progress on opponents around the Catalunya circuit, after the tightly bunched race finish produced at Mugello, Rossi replied, “Well there are two or three points where it is good for overtaking, like braking on the first corner, braking on turn nine in particular. But in general it is possible to overtake everywhere.”