The ongoing drama of Valentino Rossi and Yamaha's 2006 season continued at Istanbul today, when the reigning world champion plummeted to 11th on the grid after🎃 a problematic wet qualifying session for Sunday's Turkish Grand Prix.

Rossi's season to date has been a contrast of highs and lows; the Italian struggling with chronic chatter throughout the Jerez season opener - and getting knocked down at turn 🎶one - before the chatter was contained (but not cured) last time out in Qatar, where he bounced back with victory.

Friday in Turkey saw a further set of extrem🅰es, with Rossi third in first free practice but just 11th in the aftern🎉oon after set-up changes designed to improve acceleration resulted in a loss of braking grip.

Then came today's rain, which well and truly washed away the seven-times wor🍸ld champion's hopes and he eventually qualified almost 3-seconds behind Suzuki pole sitter Chris Vermeulen.

"We're having a lot of difficulty▨, not just at this track but during this period. Unfortunately the problem with the bike came late in the pre-season and we have not had time yet to fully understand𒆙 it. It means we are off the pace here in the wet and the dry, but we don't completely understand why," shrugged Valentino.

Rossi's Saturday problems weren't helped by the apparent rain advantage held by rival tyre supplier Bridgestone - whose🅠 riders filled all but one of the top six positions in qualifying - but The Doctor believes that is a symptom rather than a cause.

"It seems that our tyre competitor is strong here but we can't blame this," he said. "Nicky Hayden (second on the grid) was very fast all day and after h🥃im the next Michelin rider is Casey Stoner (in seventh); with the amount of MotoGP experience he has in these conditions we should be in front of him.

🌼"I'm surprised, because last year our bike was really good in the wet and after the new bike worked so well at Catalunya during the rainy pre-season tests I was confident it would be good today as well, but it has been the opposite. I don't have enough confidence in the front to lean the bike over as much as I would like on the entry to the corners and not enough grip on the rear to make it up on the exit.

"If it's dry tomorrow then we have some things to try in the morning, but if the conditions are the same as today then it's going to be very hard for us," admitted Rossi, who is currently fourth in the championship standings, 14-points behind Ducati's Loris ꧃Capirossi, who qualified fourth toda🍸y.

Rossi's problems were reflected on the other side of the Camel Yamaha garage with team-mate Colin Edwards q🎐ualifying a slightly better ninth, despite a heavy mornin🌟g fall.

"I had a big highside this morning and came down heavily on my head, shoulders and knee. It was pretty painful but after two laps back on the bike you soon forget about that," claimed the Texan. "To be honest ꧃I felt quite comfortable in the wet but if we want to be competitive in this race we have to find another two seconds from somewhere and I'm not quite sure where at the moment.

"Our tyre rivals se💜em to have an advantage but I also have to say 'hats off' to Nicky Hayden - I'm n🐭ot sure how close he was to ending one of those laps on the floor but he showed that Michelin have a good wet tyre so we clearly need to find the performance from our own bike," added Edwards. "Wet or dry we have to pull a result out from somewhere tomorrow, but after this afternoon's session I'm definitely keeping my fingers crossed for sunshine in the morning."

"We are clearly in a very difficult situation at the moment and we need to first understand our problems before we can work to improve them," stated team director Davide Brivio. "The engineer𒅌s are looking at the data as we speak and seeing if we can come up with something for tomorrow. Our team have shown in the past that they are capable of producing quick solutions and I have full confidence in them; somehow we have to find a bette🌳r performance in the wet and in the dry conditions."