Valentino Rossi wasn't the only Yamaha rider to struggle with rear tyre wear in the season-opening Qatar MotoGP, but he was the worst affected by it. The Italian veteran, making his Petronas debut, had already slipped from fourth to seventh on the opening lap when the tyre degradation problem began to kick in after just '7 or 8' of the 22 laps. Rossi went on to finish in twelfth place, 10.7s behind former Factory Yamaha team-mate and race winner Maverick Vinales. Maintaining tyre life is unsurprisingly his top priority for this weekend's second Doha event. "In the first race I was not fast like I want, so we will try to change something in the setting of the bike to improve the life...
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