Rossi: Flag to flag chassis dilemma

Valentino Rossi could find himself in a situation where he has to use both versions of the Yamaha chassis this weekend at the Sachsenring in a flag to flag race.

The weather forecast over the weekend suggests rain could play a part on Sunday and with Rossi and team-mate Maverick Vinales having only one of Yamaha's new chassis each, a flag to flag call could mean they will use both in the same race.

Rossi, though, confirmed he would start the race with the new chassis, which the Assen winner says has improved his feeling with the front in corner entry.

"If it is a flag to flag it will be interesting! It is like this because we don't have time, so maybe the situation will change for Brno. Now, it is like this and for sure if it is flag to flag it can be a problem, but I will start with the new one because I feel good, but we always try to use also the other one to have a reference and to be ready in these conditions," said Rossi.

"Last year I was not so bad on the dry and also on the wet. But last year was a crazy race with different conditions, a flag to flag and the track drying up very fast. So we tried to stay out but at the end it was not the right strategy and we throw away more or less everything.

"I hope, like always, it is a full dry or a full wet race from the start to the end, but I will try to be ready in case of flag to flag or different conditions."

Rossi claimed his 115th Grand Prix win in the Dutch TT as he secured his maiden victory in the premier class for over a year. The 38-year-old is now right back in the title hunt and is only seven points behind championship leader Andrea Dovizioso and three behind Vinales in second place.

"First of all I'm happy for the victory because it was the first from Barcelona last year and it was after a great race, so great emotion. And it is also very important for the championship because it looks very interesting: a lot of riders and a lot of different bikes very close and the situation changes from one week to the other," Rossi said.

"Everything is open and we are there; I am not so far, so it will be very important to try to be competitive also here in Sachsenring because it is a different track compared to Assen and we will see. It looks like the weather forecast is quite bad for the weekend, so it will be very important to try to be ready for all the conditions."

The Sachsenring has been resurfaced since 2016 and Rossi says it will be impossible to determine whether or not the grip has improved until free practice on Friday.

"The situation of the asphalt will be a great surprise for everybody tomorrow because nobody knows nothing; unfortunately also Michelin was not able to come to make a test with us or also with the test riders, so everybody hopes for a good asphalt - like in Le Mans it was fantastic - but in every place it is different. For me it is impossible to say for everybody if it is better for us or not, we have to see tomorrow."