Nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi moved up to P4 on the second day of 2017 testing in Malaysia, putting in 54 laps despite early inclement weather and putting in a best of 2:00.254. After suffering with illness on Day 1, the second day saw the rider from Tavullia back to his best.
The big news of Day 2 saw Rossi testing a new fairing with “internal” winglets – as their external counterparts are outlawed for 2017 – but the Italian reported minimal difference to the old.
Valentino Rossi, P4: “Today I feel good, which is important. In the end it was a good day because this morning we had to wait but in the afternoon we could work a lot on the bike, we tried different stuff and it’s more or less positive. We tried a different frame, different chassis, different tyres and I finished in fourth - and improved the lap time - so it was a good day.
“The fairing was not a big difference but the new chassis was a good difference. Compared to the old one we’ve still not decided, we need to continue working tomorrow.”