Rossi confident about tyre choice

The Fiat Yamaha rider found his wet tyres to be too hard in Friday's rain-hit practice sessions, while the dry conditions on Saturday morning were too cold for the selection of slicks he had.

However, a new batch of softer wet tyres if it rains, plus a more rubbered in track if it stays dry, have left him confident of improved fortunes tomorrow.

Speaking about the new Michelin wets, which arrived in the paddock on Saturday morning after being flown in overnight, Rossi said: "We have a softer option on the front than we already had yesterday, but we didn't try, and also something softer on the rear.

"If it rains in the warm up then it's possible to try (the new tyre). If not, then we've got the normal soft tyre. It would be too much risk racing the new one without trying it first."

And although the cold conditions experienced on Saturday morning left him struggling to get heat into his dry selection of tyres, he was confident that there would not be repeat problems in the race.

"If it doesn't rain tomorrow, there will be more rubber on the track. Then it is more easy to get more temperature. But if it less than 20 degrees (ambient) then it is a problem for us."

Rossi was not the only Michelin runner struggling with the tyres in the cold conditions, with Dani Pedrosa also having difficulties. He escaped a massive wobble through Starkey's Bridge in the morning session.

"This morning was a lit bit more difficult because the conditions were so cold for the tyres," said the Repsol Honda rider. "I had a big moment there. But in the afternoon it was a little bit better for the tyres so we could improve our race set-up."