Indy MotoGP: Valentino Rossi admits confidence issue

Valentino Rossi has admitted a lack of confidence is preventing him from challenging for victories in MotoGP.

The Italian is still working his way back to full fitness after breaking his right leg during practice for his home race in Mugello back in June.

And Rossi told MCN on the eve of the Indianapolis race in America that his fragile confidence was hitting his form.

Rossi has scored one podium in the three races since he made a shock early return to action in Germany in mid-July but he’s not yet been able to seriously threaten the impressive pace of Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo.

Rossi said he was suffering a confidence crisis with the front-end of his factory Yamaha YZR-M1 machine and he told MCN: “ Simply speaking, we have tried to adapt the bike to my condition to have easier bike.

“But I’ve lost confidence with the bike, especially with the front. In the first laps in Brno it was very bad, but also in Laguna, I’m not very fast like I want and in Brno I was a very upset race. We need to work in another way have our normal setting.”

Expanding on the front-end issues that have dogged him lately when questioned by MCN about the problem, he said: “Compared to last year we have a lot of problems to find the grip with the tyres.

“And a lot of times the same tyres that worked very well last year don’t give me the same feeling and the same grip. We have to understand why. And the problem is that when you don’t feel very much the front you are f****d.”

Rossi was a distant fifth in Brno earlier this month but denied his failure to challenge for wins since his return had become a source of great frustration.

He told MCN: “It is not very frustrating because I expected this When you have a big injury, together with another injury like the shoulder, it gives you a lot of problems and this is normal.

“You need to be quiet and stay concentrated and not be too frustrated and try to work at the maximum and wait. I have to ride carefully and I need to be more concentrated than normal because I am fragile.

“In the last few races we are not fast enough and I’m not happy about my races this year because I’m never fast enough except the first victory in Qatar.”