Valentino Rossi admitted his Ducati's tyre wear is an issue in the upcoming MotoGP at Assen. He also expressed hope for some rain at this weekend's race.

At the Silverstone grand prix, Rossi only finished ninth, while his teammate Nicky Hayden placed seventh. In contrast, the Netherlands practice on Thursday saw Rossi finished eighth. Hayden was at third place. The gap between Rossi and pacesetter Ben Spies was within 0.4 seconds.

Rossi said it was a decent pace for Ducati.

"Today went pretty well, especially in the afternoon. I'm eighth, but the gap to the front is only four tenths, which is a decent step forward for us," the Italian champion said.

Tyre wear is Ducati's problem

Rossi pointed out his main issue is tyre wear. In previous races, he also pointed out how his Desmosedici travels well in the rain.

"Now the bike works well with new tyres, but we have to keep working on our race pace... Both Nicky and I start sliding a lot when the tyre is worn, so we have to slow down too much compared to the others," he said.

The celebrated rider also told reporters a rainshower would help Ducati's chances.

"We were a bit better at Barcelona and during the dry sessions at Le Mans, so we must at least regain that pace. If it should also happen to rain, we know that we can be more competitive," he said.

More practice

Rossi has only a day left to practice prior to Saturday's championship.

"Tomorrow, in order to be more consistent and improve the pace, we must try to improve rear grip without losing it at the front. Anyway, today wasn't a bad start," he said.

Transferring Factory?

Meanwhile, Rossi quashed rumours that he was transferring to another factory in 2013.

Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta has recently been quoted at omnicorse.it as saying:

"Valentino next year will be riding a competitive bike, but I [can't] tell you what it is. It is still too early to talk about: in 2013 we will see Rossi fight for the win... again."

In reaction, Rossi said Ezpeleta was either making a speculation, or he knew more.

"I think this is only his idea, or maybe he knows more than me [laughs]," Rossi was quoted by gpone.com.

"I haven't requested a bike from either of those two manufacturers [Honda or Yamaha]. My objective is to make the Ducati competitive and to continue with this team," Rossi stressed.