Multi-world champion Valentino Rossi has declared it’s currently ‘not a positive time’ after scoring his third consecutive DNF last weekend in Assen, although successive rounds in the championship have injected promise into the class veteran as the German grand prix looms this weekend.

The Italian fan-favourite has experienced a challenging campaign in the first eight rounds, and he’s eager to confirm his new-found settings that were unable to be put to complete use in The Netherlands.

“This is not a positive time for us,” Rossi admitted. “The end to the race in Assen was a real shame because I felt good after the warm-up, I was fast but instead ended up with another zero.

“The good thing is that now we go straight to the Sachsenring and we can immediately work on another GP weekend. It will be important to understand if the changes made for last Sunday’s race will also be positive at the Sachsenring this weekend. We will try to be competitive right from the start on Friday.”

The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP rider is currently fifth in the championship standings.