Valentino Rossi bullish about VR46 at Qatar MotoGP after problem is solved

Valentino Rossi gave a bold assessment of his VR46 team at the Qatar MotoGP.

The MotoGP legend is in attendance in the paddock for the first time this season, and saw his team produce a promising performance on Saturday.

Franco Morbidelli and Fabio di Giannantonio qualified fourth and fifth respectively.

Morbidelli converted that into a podium in the sprint race but a problem with Di Giannantonio’s factory-spec Ducati left him in sixth.

"Morbidelli and Di Giannantonio are going very fast,” a buoyant Rossi told Sky Italia.

“They are in very good shape, and our bikes are scary.

“We have made a big step as a team, we can fight for the podium in all races."

Fabio di Giannantonio identified VR46 issue

Rossi watched on as his other VR46 academy graduates struggled on Saturday in Qatar.

Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia was eighth, Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi was ninth,  Honda’s Luca Marini 15th.

Di Giannantonio was also left disappointed by an unconfirmed problem which he claims has been identified ahead of Sunday’s grand prix.

“We spent the weekend trying to improving my feeling,” Di Giannantonio said.

“We went in a circle with the setup, and came back for the race. We’d lost something in qualifying even if my lap was good, I missed the 15th corner.

“For this, we could not be on the front row.

“Then in the race? Honestly we got a really strange feeling with the rear end of the bike.

“It was difficult to manage. I was stuck trying to understand.

“I tried to go around it but it was difficult and dangerous to push.

“The good thing is that we know exactly what happened. So [on Sunday] we won’t have these troubles and we can be there for the podium.”