Valentino Rossi might have to pin his 2019 MotoGP hopes on the possibility of a third engine spec from Yamaha as the second version he tried today at Valencia was not much different to yesterday's.
Rossi and Maverick Vinales were happier with the first of the 2019 spec motors wheeled out for the Spanish test but Rossi added a caveat that it was good but not good enough. He was hoping for more today but it failed to materialise.
He finished the day ninth, 0.614s behind his team-mate with Franky Morbidelli - on last year's bike - in front of him.
"We were able to improve compared to yesterday, but unfortunately our opponents were able to improve more. "With the new tyre we are not so bad, but after some laps we suffer more and our pace is not fantastic," said Rossi, speaking at the track.
"The main issue was to try the second engine spec. We tried back-to-back, but sincerely there was not a big difference so we have more or less the same performance.
"Yesterday there was more difference, with the engine compared to the older one. But the engine of today is very similar to the engine of yesterday.
"We'll continue with this material in Jerez, to try to understand and decide which one is the best and give some indication to Yamaha. Jerez is an important test because in the grand prix in May we were not very fast, so we need to understand if we are strong."
