Rossi made to wait for bike upgrades

The Japanese manufacturer team had originally planned to introduce some engine improvements around the time of this weekend's French Grand Prix, but Rossi's victory in China appears to have convinced Yamaha to continue with their current specification for now.

Speaking ahead of this weekend's race in Le Mans, Rossi said: "For this weekend, we will be racing like Shanghai. But, it looks that after the performance of the bike in Shanghai, Yamaha prefer to wait for (better) reliability for the new things.

"Maybe we will have then for the Barcelona test, so (for now) we continue with the same spec."

Although the fact Rossi must stick with his current specification for the next two races at least would appear to be a blow, Rossi is upbeat about the form of his bike and the way it has been adapted to Bridgestone tyres.

"I feel confident," said the Italian. "The M1 is much better for the Bridgestone tyres, and our setting is not to bad to use the potential of the tyres. It is possible to be fast everywhere.

"For sure I think we will have some better tracks and some tracks where we have more problems, but the base level is good. Our bike is fast. If I look at the race in Shanghai, the (speed on the) straight now is not a nightmare, so it is a lot easier."