Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales tipped for painful MotoGP season at Yamaha | MotoGP news results drivers race and qualifying MotoGP latest - Daily Star

Veteran superstar Rossi, 40, performed admirably in the Qatar curtain raiser.

After a frustrating qualifying session he started way down the grid in 14th spot.

However, in an impressive show of force, Rossi overtook nine bikes to eventually place fifth.

His team-mate Maverick Vinales had a weekend to forget. The Spaniard started on pole position but ended up placing seventh.

“MotoGP stars Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales have had issues at Yamaha”

The Yamaha M1 bike was plagued by issues last term.

And, although it looked like improvements had been made in the off season, the Japanese heavyweights couldn’t get near Ducati and Honda in the desert heat.

MotoWeek podcast presenter and MotoGP expert Wilson claims it was like Groundhog Day for Rossi and co.

“Qatar really looked like the past two years for Yamaha," he said.

“I mean encouraging pre-season, positive outlook coming into the season opener - and then they simply can’t build on the momentum.

“Even the results were nearly the same. 2018 Rossi is third and Vinales is sixth. This year they’re fifth and seventh although each was a little closer to the leader in terms of overall time.”

Yamaha’s tough start to the 2019 calendar came amid reports of:

- A MotoGP legend gatecrashing the F1 Australian Grand Prix

- An intriguing solution to the Ducati winglet row

- Jorge Lorenzo’s issues at Honda revealed

Acceleration issues relating to the electronics were a common complaint from Rossi and Vinales last season.

Wilson suggested Yamaha won’t be Championship contenders until their recurring issues are resolved.

“While Rossi’s issue in qualifying was the front tyre on the bike, for the race it was back to the familiar rear grip problems,” he added.

“Vinales may have explained it a little bit differently than he has in the past - and took on some of the blame himself which he should have - he had another terrible start where he dug a hole and had to get himself out of.

“But in the end it all boiled down to the same thing.

“Rear wheel spin and not enough drive out the corner.

“Rossi made up a ton of ground. But the baseline they established was not one of a podium contending team.”

MotoGP Championship Standings 2019

1 Andrea Dovizioso 25

2 Marc Marquez 20

3 Cal Crutchlow 16

4 Alex Rins 13

5 Valentino Rossi 11

6 Danilo Petrucci 10

7 Maverick Vinales 9

8 Joan Mir 8