After a miserable opening day at the Japanese MotoGP, a 'happy' Valent🙈ino Rossi jumped up the timing screens from twelfth to second place, as wet cond𝓀itions continued on Saturday morning.

❀But the Movistar Yamaha rider's fortunes took a knock, literally, with an accident in final practice, which robbed him of his number one bike, plus a recurrence of rear-grip issues as the trackꦅ began to dry.

Those grip problems helped prompt Rossi to take a slick-tyre gamble for the start of qu🍃alifying, which backfired.

All of which put the Italian baꦆck to where he had been oꦯn Friday; twelfth.

Rossi's FP4 fall, a highside at Turn 8, was his first since returning🌃 from a 🦹broken leg. But fears of further injury soon evaporated as the nine-time champion climbed to his feet and tried bump-starting his M1.

"I w⛎as lucky because it was a highside but fortunately the bike rotated below me," explained Rossi, speaking in the Motegi paddock on Saturday evening. "I have some more pain now but it's okay, I didn't hit the leg a lot. A 𝓡finger [Rossi has a small bandage on finger] as always! But it was good because it was quite a big crash."

Rossi made multiple attempts to restart his bike with the help of marshals, but although he eventually got the machine back to the pits his efforts were ꧑for nothing.

"It waꦯs my race bike with tꦇhe best setting and so it was important to have for the qualifying," he said. "But unfortunately there was too much damage, so I made a lot of effort for nothing!"

The clear highlight of Rossi's day was the improvement in rear grip during FP3 - both Rossi and team-mate Maverick𒊎 Vinales having openly questioned what more they could try after struggling with the season-long issue again on Friday.

"We started well this morning, because in the full wet we improve a lot the setting and I was - I don't want to say surprised - but I was happy because I did some go💮od lap times," Rossi s🦄aid.

The improvement did not come from the electronics, but "Setting. Rear setting especially. Electronics you always work on from Friday to Saturday and Saturday ꦗto Sunday, because the more numbers you have, the more precise the settings.

"But the biggest step was the balance𓄧 and the modifications to the setting at t🌄he rear."

However ✅those improvements did not work when the track began to dry at luncht⛎ime.

"Unfortunately in FP4, we don't change anything, but we suffer very much in the conditions. When we don't have enough water,𝓀 we suffer as always with the rear grip.

"So also a little bit for th🐲is reason we try to take a risk [on slicks in Qualifying 2] because have already some dry line."

Rossi was the only rider to take such a slick gamble at the start of qualifying, although Marc Marquez did so later in theღ session, after alread💎y posting a quick time on wets.

"U𒈔nfortunately it was still too wet and also the track didn't dry 💞quick enough," said Rossi.

"So you have to go very slow, and when you go very slow the problem is that the temperature 🦋of the tyre goes down a lot and after that it is very difficult to come back to a n🃏ormal grip. So no way.

"Anyway, because it's cold the t♓rack is drying very slow. Half an hour after qualifying the track still remained similar."

All of which means ♍Rossi is now pinning his hopes on a fully wet race, as is currently forecas♑t.

"Starting from twelfth will be ve🧜ry difficult tomorrow, but for me the most important for us will be the conditions. If it's full wet, I think that our pace is not so bad. With less water, no."

Meanwhile, Johann Zaꦰrco🎃 and the 2016 Yamaha will start on pole.

"He was very good because he𒁏 put the super soft [wet] at the end and did one lap. I think he made the difference and also we know that that bike in the wet is better. So these things 💮together.

"But this morning I was✃ good. I don’t know if I had made a normal practice like [Zarco] and then put the super soft at the end, what my potential would have been. But I don't think a '53 was possible for m👍e."

Title contender Vinales, who continued to struggle throughout the day, will start just 14th after failing to progress t🅰hrough Qualifying 1.