For the first time in recent years, Yamaha brought the first variant of the bike it will ride the following season to the traditional Brno Summer Test – with Rossi doing most of the ride on the machine, which was mostly fitted with a new engine .
Rossi finished the day four tenths behind Fabio Quartararo from Petronas SRT, who was on the current M1.
Although Rossi was reluctantly asked to comment on the positives and negatives of the new bike, Rossi admitted that he expected a bigger step with the 2020 bike – despite saying he expected more the two-day Misano test at the end of August.
“It was a good day, it was a good test because we worked a lot and found some good things,” he said.
“We also tried the prototype of the new bike, but honestly we don’t have much new [to try].
“It’s a different engine and a different setting of the chassis, but it’s only the first contact and it’s good that we already have it.
“[The new bike has] some good things, some bad. We expected a lot more, but we know – because it’s only the first time – we can have something else at the next test in the second half of the season.
“We tried to have more grip, especially from behind. So we tried different settings because the rest of the bike is the same.
“We found some things better, some things worse, we struggled a little with the wheelie. So we still have a lot to do.”
Teammate Maverick Vinales said after finishing a low 10th in Sunday’s race that he wouldn’t try the new bike as he wanted to focus on fixing the issues that were holding him back in the GP.
But at the end of the session he did a handful of laps on the 2020 bike, was second fastest and only missed the top spot by 0.012 seconds.
With Yamaha already working towards next year, Vinales said the amount of rubber on the track is unclear whether the bike has gained in grip compared to the current M1.
“Well, actually it’s just a step, a small step,” he added.
“I don’t know if it’s right because we tried when there was a lot of grip on the track.
“Usually our bike works pretty well [when it’s grippy]. We have to try when there is no grip.
“I think Misano will be very good to test when it’s hot, very slippery, and we’ll know more realistic things there.”
