Rossi enjoys "better feelings" on Friday in Barcelona

Nine-time Champion is in a positive mood after the opening day of action at the Catalan GP, but did he finish inside the top ten?

After a disappointing home Grand Prix at Mugello last time out, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi has begun the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya in better shape – and a P7 at the end of Day 1 in Barcelona shows it.

“Yeah not so bad, especially after Mugello,” reflected Rossi at the end of Friday’s track action, ‘The Doctor’ going well in both FP1 and FP2 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to eventually position himself inside that all-important top ten.

“I have a better feeling with the bike and I'm faster. We worked well from the morning, the situation with the track is a bit difficult for everybody because the track has a lot less grip compared to last year. So you have to manage this, to find the right balance with the bike but today I think we worked well, in the afternoon we were able to improve.

“At the end we did a time attack and I am in P7, I am in the top ten, this is the target, and for sure we still have a lot of work to do but the target for FP3 is to stay in the top ten and go directly to Q2.”

With conditions almost certainly going to be dry on Saturday morning, Rossi and Yamaha still have a job to do if they are to reach the 40-year-old’s intended target: an automatic Q2 spot. His 1:41.190 currently sees Rossi sit just over a tenth from 11th place Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), so the finest of margins could prove to be vital in FP3.

Catch Rossi and his competitors in action at 09:55 local time (GMT+2) on Saturday morning, before qualifying begins with Q1 at 14:10.

Watch every 2019 race LIVE & OnDemand and enjoy the whole motogp.com video library, including technical features, exclusives interviews and classic races, with the MotoGP™ VideoPass