Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi believes the ball is in Ducati’s court to avoid a repeat of the Michelin tire problems that shaped the last MotoGP round in Argentina.

Following an issue with a rear tire on Scott Redding’s Pramac Ducati during last Saturday’s practice session, the Argentinian Grand Prix was cut from 25 laps to 20, and run in flag-to-flag format to help reduce rear-tire load through a bike swap. That came after rain on Sunday spoiled plans to use a replacement batch of rear tires, and Rossi said after the race that the move hurt his chances of fighting victor Marc Marquez.

Redding’s incident followed a rear-tire failure on Loris Baz’s Avintia Ducati during pre-season testing at Sepang in February. Baz (6ft3) and Redding (6ft) are the two tallest riders on the MotoGP grid and listed as among the heaviest at 79kg and 78kg, respectively, with 5ft11 Rossi the fourth tallest  but weighing 65kg. The Italian feels the size of Baz and Redding may have played a role in the rear-tire issues, but that Ducati must also accept some esponsibility.

“For me, it’s altogether,” he said of the situation. “Taller rider and a little bit more heavy, like Baz and Redding. I’m also quite tall, but also a little bit less [heavy], but especially it is the bike, I think. It is the taller rider with the bike.

“During all of the winter testing and also during the race in Qatar, and in the test at Sepang and also Phillip Island, and in Argentina, with the Yamaha, we never had problems. Last week, we were ready to race, to make the 25 laps. About our feeling on the bike and our data of the tire temperature, we didn’t have any problems, fortunately.”

Michelin is investigating the cause of Redding’s problem, and Rossi believes a repeat and additional tire restrictions would be to the detriment of MotoGP.

“I hope that the other bikes – in this case the Ducati – can fix the problem,” he added. “Because if not, also all of the other manufacturers have to race with the very hard, hard, hard tire and I think that is not good for the show, is not good for the performance. I think they have to fix the problem.”