Vale took his time as usual during free practice to get into the rhythm, with the rain seeming to complicate the situation a little for his Yamaha. In the dry, he knew how to burst out at the right time to achieve the second fastest time in qualifying. He will therefore start on Sunday from the middle of the first row, between his teammate Maverick Vinales and national hero Johann Zarco.
Rossi even came close to taking pole position, and the gap between him and Vinales was really small. As the race should take place in the dry, we can expect very good performances from the Yamahas which demonstrated their qualities in these conditions this Saturday.
Valentino will have a lot to do in the Grand Prix against Maverick Vinales and hopefully Johann Zarco, but it is clear that he has the talent, the experience and the bike to achieve a good result. This will be all the more important as only two points currently separate him from his teammate Maverick Vinales in the provisional standings of the World Championship.
According to Valentino Rossi, “ I'm really happy because we completed our first session in the dry today, so you never know. We have changed the settings somewhat which, combined with the new coating, allows the bike to perform better.
“Overall these qualifications were good. I think I was fast during my first attempt, but I caught Jack a little too early and lost time. It's a shame to have missed pole position like this, but starting from second place is okay for the race. »
For Massimo Meregalli, team manager of the Yamaha team, “Today we worked perfectly for the team. It was a very difficult day, from FP3 until the end of Q2, due to the track conditions, which were constantly changing lap by lap, but for the better.
“All the sessions today were really exciting. The new tarmac offers very good grip, which adapts perfectly to our bike and our two riders have done an excellent job of exploiting this advantage to the maximum.
“They were fast and consistent in all sessions and today's results give us a lot of confidence for tomorrow's race, but we still have areas where we can improve.
“The choice of tire remains a question mark, as conditions over the past two days have not allowed us to complete an adequate comparison between all options. For this reason, the warm up will be extremely important. We'll start the race from the best position on the grid, first and second, and today Zarco makes it an all-Yamaha front row. »
Qualification results:
1. Maverick Vinales ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 31.994s
2. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 32.100s +0.106s
3. Johann Zarco FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 32.229s +0.235s
4. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 1m 32.300s +0.306s
5. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 32.493s +0.499s
6. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 32.726s +0.732s
7. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 33.119s +1.125s
8. Pol Espargaro ESP Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 33.399s +1.405s
9. Karel Abraham CZE Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 33.517s +1.523s
10. Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 33.629s +1.635s
11. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 33.756s +1.762s
12. Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 33.955s +1.961s
13. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 32.415s
14. Alvaro Bautista ESP Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 32.484s
15. Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 32.695s
16. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 32.830s
17. Andrea Iannone ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 32.844s
18. Aleix Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 33.187s
19. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 33.231s
20. Hector Barbera ESP Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 33.233s
21. Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* 1m 33.817s
22. Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 33.875s
23. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 34.082s
Provisional ranking of the World Championship:
1 Valentino ROSSI-Yamaha 62 points
2 Maverick VIÑALES-Yamaha 60
3 Marc MARQUEZ-Honda 58
4 Dani PEDROSA-Honda 52
5 Andrea DOVIZIOSO-Ducati 41
6 Johann ZARCO-Yamaha 35
7 Cal CRUTCHLOW-Honda 29
8 Jonas FOLGER-Yamaha 29
9 Jorge LORENZO-Ducati 28
10 Danilo PETRUCCI-Ducati 26
11 Scott REDDING-Ducati 26
12 Jack MILLER-Honda 21
13 Aleix ESPARGARO-Aprilia 17
14 Alvaro BAUTISTA-Ducati 14
15 Loris BAZ-Ducati 12
16 Hector BARBERA-Ducati 12
17 Andrea IANNONE-Suzuki 9
18 Karel ABRAHAM-Ducati 9
19 Tito RABAT-Honda 8
20 Alex RINS-Suzuki 7
21 Bradley SMITH-KTM 3
22 Pol ESPARGARO-KTM 2
23 Sam LOWES-Aprilia 0
Photo © Yamaha
