Silverstone MotoGP: Rossi has 'one-season disadvantage' this weekend

Ducati's Valentino Rossi will look to build on his best dry-weather MotoGP performance last time out in Spain when he rolls into Silverstone on Thursday but admits he has a 'one-season' disadvantage over his title rivals.

Ducati's Valentino Rossi will look to build on his best dry-weather MotoGP performance last time out in Spain when he rolls into Silverstone on Thursday but admits he has a 'one-season' disadvantage over his title rivals.

The Doctor didn't take part in the 2010 race as he was recovering from his badly-broken leg so only has one year of setup data. He was sixth last year in a rain-sodden encounter and hints that he wouldn't mind it being a bit damp in 2012.

“I have a one-season ‘disadvantage’ at Silverstone compared to the other riders, who started a year ahead of me, so I’ll have to ride as much as possible during the practice sessions in order to understand the track well, as last year was quite difficult," said Rossi.

"During the Aragon test last week, we found some small things with the electronics and worked a bit on the settings. Now we’ll see how it works in England. We hope I’ll be able to ride well, that we’ll find a good setup and that we can stay at the same level in the dry as we were at the Barcelona GP, although our chances will be better if it rains.”

By MotoGP desk

Image by Bonnie Lane