Finishing his second day of the Aragon Grand Prix 0.834 seconds behind a dominant Marc Márquez was certainly not what Valentino Rossi was hoping for this Saturday. But that's how it is, and what's more, the Doctor suffered a violent fall which could have left him behind.
Not among the top three in qualifying, Valentino Rossi held a private press conference at his hotel.
As usual in Europe, we were there, and we therefore offer you a full “raw” translation of his words, without any journalistic formatting or distortion.
Valentino Rossi: “It was quite difficult today, especially at the start, because we had a lot of work to do, but unfortunately I started with a new rear tire and I made a mistake, I arrived too fast and I crashed, so it wasn't a fantastic start after (only) half a lap. But at the same time I was very lucky and I have to say thank you to Dainese and to my leather which saved my shoulder because this type of fall is quite dangerous because, first of all, you don't expect it because you are going quite slowly . So I fell rather hard on my shoulder.
When you don't have any physical problems after a fall like that, it's already good, but on the other hand we lost a lot of time and our work to try to improve our pace was completely delayed. Also I'm not happy to start from sixth place, of course, because, yes, it's on the second row, but I wasn't good enough to do a good lap. I think I can do better.
But that's how it is, and we start from the second row.
Other than that, in free practice I wasn't so bad with the hard tyres, I was second. So, it's pretty good, but we need to work a lot to try to improve the pace and above all, try to be fast from the start and also keep a good pace throughout the race. Of course, starting from the second row is more difficult, but it is anyway better than from the third, and also Pedrosa is very strong and is behind me, so we have to wait, we have to see the conditions we will have tomorrow , decide on the right tires, and try to have a good race.
I think our goal is to try to get on the podium, try to fight for the podium. »
The Hondas seem very strong…
“I expect the Hondas to be strong because, historically, it’s a good track for them. And also, the Hondas have improved a lot in the last two or three races, since they won with Crutchlow, but they also won with Pedrosa. Looks like they've improved the acceleration out of corners a lot. So that's one thing, and the other is that it's a good track for the Hondas. »
Have you tried the asymmetric tire?
" Me no. Crutchlow and Marquez tried it, and also Vinales. Personally, I think I don't need it. »
In your opinion, which tires will the drivers choose for the entire race?
“For me, for the tires, it depends a lot on the style of the drivers and the different compounds. So I won't be surprised if we have different front tires.
For the rear, I think it's more the Hard, but it's not completely decided, because maybe (???) you can try, with the soft rear. It will depend a lot on the conditions, because the forecast says that tomorrow it may be a little colder and cooler. We saw a lot of mistakes this morning, a lot of crashes, so that means you have to keep your focus on this track. So this time again, I think the choice of tires will be very important. »
Can you gain two or three extra tenths to fight with Marquez in the race?
“For the moment, it’s very difficult, because Marc is very strong. He is the guy who clearly has the best pace and also, he will start from pole position. Tomorrow we have to concentrate on giving our best and fighting throughout the race to try to get on the podium. I think beating Marc will be very, very difficult. »
