For once, quite unusual to highlight, Valentino Rossi was not the center of journalists' attention during this post-race press conference which also brought together Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo.
Aside from the two obligatory questions from Nick Harris, the Yamaha rider was only questioned once, which can be compared with the number of questions asked to Marc Marquez...
As usual, in order to avoid any abusive journalistic interpretation, we offer you a “raw” translation of all of his words.
You had the pace to finish second but you finished third…
“Yes, you know, the start of the race was a lot of fun, it was a great battle. It was good and we enjoyed it. I saw that Marquez had a heat in turn 7 and had lost a little bit, and I was hoping that there was something wrong with his tire (laughs). When I was in the lead, I had a good pace, I tried to attack as much as possible, but unfortunately, it wasn't enough. During this weekend, we worked to try to be stronger during the second part of the race, but unfortunately it did not work as we wanted. I gave my all, but Lorenzo was stronger, faster than me during the second part of the race. And he was able to catch up with me, pass me and go ahead. But you knew, I was there! From behind, I could stay with him and I wanted to fight in the last laps but unfortunately I made a mistake braking in turn 11. I braked and I was a little too fast, it was too dangerous and I decided to cut the turn and go offshore. Otherwise, we could have touched each other, a disaster. Anyway, the podium is good here in Aragon, because we always suffer a little there. Of course, I wanted to get in front of my teammate, but this time he was stronger. But these are important points anyway. »
52 points…
“Yes, it was already very difficult with 43 points and now it is much more difficult with 52. But I don't want to think about the championship, we just have to work and stay focused. In three weeks we will go shopping overseas. I always really like the circuits, our bike is usually strong there, so we have to fight and try to get on the podium and try to fight for the victory. Because we haven't won since Barcelona with the Yamaha, and it seems that the Suzukis, but more particularly the Hondas, are making a lot of progress. In the last races they won a lot with different drivers, and we have to understand and try to be competitive for the last part of the championship. »
Marc is 52 points ahead, but Jorge is 14 points behind; where should you look?
“As I said, the important thing is to have good races, try not to make mistakes, take points, get on the podium, and especially try to win. You know, 52 points is a lot, and at the same time, the fight for second place, which is not first place, is quite close with Lorenzo. Marquez and Lorenzo are also very very strong in the next races, until the end; It's like now we're in the final game and we have to try to be competitive everywhere. »
