It's a scenario that we never get tired of. That of a Valentino Rossi in great difficulty, a delicate situation recognized by the person concerned who each time we imagine on the verge of breakdown. And then, on one occasion, in a session, or in a race, the same one comes back from the devil vauvert to show his opponents that he is still in the game. In Qatar, he surprised on Sunday. In Argentina, he stirred up the crowds on Saturday.
Sixteenth the day before, it was in seventeenth position that the Doctor approached a Q.1 who had never seen so many beautiful people. Eight factory bikes, a handful of successful riders, and rain to top it all off. Suffice to say that everything was in place to remain anonymous in the ranking.
But Vale will celebrate his start number 350 this Sunday, and this is not celebrated at the back of the peloton. So he pulled out a trick that he has the secret to getting out of the repechage trap before landing on the seventh cone of the starting grid. Not bad, even if the icing on the cake would have been to piss off his teammate Casa Particular in Viñales posted right in front of him.
However, when he is questioned about his ambition for the Sunday Grand Prix, he assures that nothing has been resolved on his Yamaha. He even has fun with it: “ My difficulties are the same, in the dry or the wet. I can't feel the front entry into turns. But I'm thinking about using the dry settings in the wet. ».
He pursues : " when we look at my performance at the end of free practice, we can only be satisfied with this seventh place. I came out of Q.1 after a few good laps and here I am on the third row. It's not fantastic but I was seventeenth after FP3. But I remain slow in the dry. We need to progress ».
So what about Sunday? “ During FP4 I rode for twenty minutes in the dry and I felt better than on Friday. Dry or wet, I think I'm at the same level of performance. But I hope it will be really dry or totally wet ».
MotoGP Argentina Qualification Ranking :
1. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V)
1m 47.512s [Lap 6/7] 314km/h (Top Speed)
2. Karel Abraham CZE Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 48.275s +0.763s [6/7] 304km/h
3. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 1m 48.278s +0.766s [7/8] 312km/h
4. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 48.908s +1.396s [6/8] 314km/h
5. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 49.008s +1.496s [5/8] 303km/h
6. Maverick Vinales ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 49.218s +1.706s [7/7] 306km/h
7. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 49.272s +1.760s [8/8] 310km/h
8. Alex Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 49.323s +1.811s [7/7] 307km/h
9. Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 49.630s +2.118s [3/7] 306km/h
10. Alvaro Bautista ESP Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 49.724s +2.212s [8/8] 312km/h
11. Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)*
1m 49.825s +2.313s [7/7] 306km/h
12. Andrea Iannone ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)
1m 50.725s +3.213s [7/7] 307km/h
13. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 49.488s 306km/h
14. Johann zarco ENG Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)*
1m 49.916s 311km/h
15. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 50.048s 314km/h
16. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17)
1m 50.310s 310km/h
17. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 50.319s 311km/h
18. Espargaro Pol ESP Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 50.673s 311km/h
19. Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 50.676s 305km/h
20. Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 50.910s 312km/h
21. Hector Barbera ESP Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 51.058s 313km/h
22. Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)*
1m 51.199s 306km/h
23. alex rins ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)* 1m 52.340s 308km/h
