Rossi frustrated by wrong set-up

The seven-time world champion finished second practice a distant fourth, some 1.2s away from title rival Casey Stoner's fastest time of 1:21.582.

"For sure I'm not happy after today's practice!" said Rossi afterwards. "This afternoon we tried some modifications to the setting and we decided to try a softer setup, but things didn't work how we hoped and we couldn't improve our time.

"In the fast corners I wasn't fast enough, and I was always a little bit wide. This afternoon I couldn't ride how I wanted to.

"Obviously this afternoon's choice is not the right way for us at this circuit and therefore tomorrow morning we will return to this morning's setup and try to close the gap to Casey."

Yamaha brought some new software to Germany as they seek to close the gap to Stoner and Ducati, who have romped to victory in the last two races at Donington and Assen.

But Rossi said he didn't expect to race the new developments this weekend, instead he said, he was putting his faith in a new Bridgestone tyre.

"I didn't try the new electronics today and actually at the moment it's more likely that we won't this weekend, but I did try some different Bridgestone tyres and we found one which we think will be okay for the race," he said.

"I am confident that our potential is more than today so we will do our best to improve tomorrow."