MotoGP: Valentino Rossi pushing for Bridgestone front qualifier

Valentino Rossi is continuing to push for Bridgestone to roll out a new front qualifying tyre to help bridge the soft rubber advantage held by rivals Michelin.

Michelin has dominated winter testing on qualifying tyres and continued at the season’s first race in Qatar, with Yamaha trio Jorge Lorenzo, James Toseland and Colin Edwards claiming the top three in qualifying.

Fiat Yamaha rider Rossi was only seventh on the third row of the grid, and is keen to see Bridgestone develop a soft front tyre, which Michelin has in its armoury.

Valentino Rossi said: “Bridgestone had the front qualifier last year but could not make it perform better than the race tyre.

“I want to push a lot for this because if the front qualifier works it is a big advantage.

“I don’t know when it can be ready but I will push a lot.”