Ducati's Valentino Rossi will start Friday's first free practice session using the setup with which he raced at Jerez. It was gleaned from using team-mate Nicky Hayden's data and means that The Doctor will make good on his promise to modify his riding style to suit the GP12.

After going round the houses with settings and new frames since Valencia 2010, Rossi has now said he must ride the bike more like a Ducati, which means keeping the bike long, low and flat instead of having it pitching on the brakes as he had with Honda and Yamaha.

“I like the Estoril track. It has some sections that are a bit tricky and the weather can be very unpredictable, but I like to race there. We had a decent race in Portugal last year with the Ducati, and we hope to do the same this Sunday. The plan is to start on Friday with the setting that we used in the race at Jerez, as I think it has some more potential for us to work toward. We’ll see if we can take a step forward and improve our result somewhat," he said.

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