Michelin investigates Rossi's tyre issue

The Yamaha rider struggled during the race, later complaining of problems with his tyres. "I immediately started to have problems with the rear tyre," the Italian said after finishing tenth.

"It did get up to temperature, but then I started sliding all over: something went wrong on the right side of the tyre and it gave us a lot of problems."

Michelin's technician in the Yamaha garage Pierre Alves stated the problems appeared to be in the tyre construction and not a matter of rubber degradation.

"It seems that it is inside the tyre rather than what happened in Laguna [Seca], when it was starting to blister," Alves explained.

A Michelin insider has hinted that it may well be a manufacturing problem rather than anything inherently wrong with the design of tyre.

Rossi has confirmed that he tried the same kind of tyre on Saturday and in Sunday's warm-up, where he set the ninth fastest time of the session.

"I was scared on the fast straight in case there was a major problem," Rossi said after today's race.

It remains to be seen whether or not today's tyre problem will affect Michelin in tomorrow's testing at Istanbul Park.