Yamaha MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi is unable to explain his poor form in Assen FP4 and qualifying, saying he was not feeling comfortable enough in those sessions.
Rossi was set to make it to Q2 from FP3, but his best laptime got cancelled for a track limits infringement and in the end he was only classified 14th.
He then struggled for pace in FP4 – setting just the 18th fastest time – and he also could not make it out of Q1.
While Fabio Quartararo and Maverick Vinales made it a Yamaha one-two on the grid, Rossi ended up qualifying 14th, his worst starting position at Assen since 2006.
Rossi said that he did not feel comfortable on the Yamaha, but could not give a reason for his struggles, as he ruled out a tyre allocation or chassis problem as the cause of his issues.
“Maverick and Quartararo are very strong this weekend – they are able to be very fast, and on the other side me and Franco [Morbidelli], we suffer more,” said Rossi.
“I don’t feel very comfortable with the bike. In the fast part [of the lap] I am not fast enough, and this make everything more difficult.
“Now we have to see, we have to work this evening to understand if we are able to be a bit stronger. And after we’ll see, but, sincerely, we don’t know why.”
Rossi had thought he could go to Q2 from Q1, but later explained that the hotter afternoon conditions meant he could not perform.
He also expects the race to be tough, saying: “This morning I was not so bad, and I was able to make a very good lap at the end that was good for Q2.
“But unfortunately I touched the green [zone] on the exit of the last chicane, and they cancelled the lap.
“But I was quite optimistic, because with the speed of this morning I think that I had enough potential to go to the Q2. But unfortunately, in the afternoon I was in trouble more.
“I lost a lot of grip with [the higher] temperature, and I lost performance and I was quite slow.
“So, I wasn’t able to improve, [and] I have to start from quite far on the grid. [It] will be hard because my pace is also not fantastic. So, for sure [it] will be a tough race.”