Valentino Rossi has said that he had fun after fighting through from fourteenth to sixth during this afternoon's Austrian MotoGP at the Red Bull Ring.

The nine-time World Champion had a rotten Saturday and started from the middle of the fifth row. After a good race, Rossi fought through into sixth position to keep second place in the World Championship standings.

“I’m quite pleased with this race, in the end I had fun and did the best I could,” said the 39-year-old.

“Unfortunately, I was starting too far back and my pace wasn’t fantastic. I made a good start and was able to disentangle myself through the first two corners, a tricky situation.

“In the warm-up we made a change to the set-up that I liked, it didn’t improve performance but allowed me to be more consistent on the used tyre.”

Both Yamaha riders have been very vocal with their struggles, so much so that Yamaha bosses yesterday apologised for the current condition of the M1. When asked exactly what the issue is, Rossi said: “For me, the chassis is good, it’s not just a matter of electronics. It’s also the engine. It’s a combination of engine and electronics, but I can’t say what percentage.”

Before the next race at Silverstone, the Movistar Yamaha team will be testing in Misano and then after the British round they will test in Aragon before the race in Misano. The Italian doesn’t think they will be able to find a solution to their issues in that time.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think so,” he said.

“But it’s important to try, because for me, Misano is the most important race of the year. I don’t think these two tests will make a big change. It would be good to make a good result in Misano, but you have to think about Silverstone first.”