Valentino Rossi predicts big Brno battle

Valentino Rossi is expecting a titanic multi-rider battle for the victory in Sunday’s Brno MotoGP race after a closely contested opening day of practice in the Czech Republic earlier.

The top six on combined times were split by just 0.300s, with German Stefan Bradl heading the timesheets with a quickest pace of 1.56.500.

That was exactly 0.3s faster than Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Cal Crutchlow in sixth, with Italian Rossi thrilled with his performance after he finished fourth fastest.

The nine-times world champion was only 0.226s behind Bradl and confident for Sunday’s 22-lap race after weight distribution changes improved his feeling on Yamaha’s factory YZR-M1.

Rossi set a best time of 1.56.726 to finish just 0.126s behind Dani Pedrosa in third and with the times so close, the 34-year-old said he expects a big battle on Sunday for round 11 of the 2013 premier class campaign.

“I am happy and it was a positive day for us, “said Rossi. “This morning I had a good pace but I am happy, especially with this afternoon. We changed the bike and I improved the braking and especially the entry into the corner where I could release the brake earlier and keep a better speed. At the same time with these changes we also improved the acceleration and I am very happy because I have a very good pace and I am fast with the soft and hard tyre. But the level is very high and we have five or six riders that have the pace to try and win the race. Everybody is very close and while we have to work more I am happy because I can stay with the top guys.”

Expanding on the changes that had given him such optimism ahead of the Brno clash, Rossi added: “We tried the bike shorter and longer and we modified the height of the bike and I feel better. I was worried in acceleration but I am also good in this area and this is very positive because I was fast from the beginning of the practice. The rest are fast, especially Jorge (Lorenzo) who was very constant. Bradl was quickest but he has the worst rhythm but Dani, Marc (Marquez) and Cal are very fast, so it will be a good fight.”