Arriving in Aragon, Valentino Rossi was surprised by his teammate's words Vinales who proclaimed to anyone who would listen that the latest tests on the Yamaha had revealed significant progress. The Doctor did not hide his skepticism about this expertise but was only asking to be wrong. Alas, after this Friday, first day of the Grand Prix, it turns out that Vale was right once again…
And yet, he would undoubtedly have rather loved to be wrong! But this Friday in Aragon gave the basis of what the rest of the meeting will be for the Yamaha officials: an ordeal. Ninth, He explains: “ at least I'm in the top ten. But as I feared, no miracle happened. If there was a track that could help us, it was Misano, and certainly not Aragon. It's a historically difficult track for us, with long turns and low grip. ».
He pursues : " After Valencia, Aragon is the second worst track for us. However, even in Misano we were not in the game. And here, on a longer track, the gap with the leading men is even bigger. Additionally, when temperatures rise, as they did between this morning and this afternoon, we struggle more than others. But even in perfect conditions we are still slower than Honda and Ducati ».
However, you have to do your job… “ we will work on little things, try to manage the rear tire as best as possible and at least try to make decent progress. But it's difficult, we have to try even harder to get results that are not what we want. The performance is not what we expect, neither me, nor Vinales, nor Yamaha. We must have patience and hope ».
« My job is not to say whether we need a V4 engine or a new chassis. I have to say what the problems are with the bike and I've been saying it for some time now, they are that between the M1 and the tires, nothing is going well. I think we need to work in different areas, but engineers need to know where and how ».
He ends on GPone : " barring a miracle, we won't win anything this season. As I said, it's a difficult situation, but it's my job and my commitment is maximum. We are here to be able to have decent races, stay calm and hope for a better future.” And when asked if 2018 was a wasted year, he replied ironically: “but no, I travel all over the world, I see a lot of beautiful cities and I talk with you, it's not completely wasted "...
Aragon Grand Prix, MotoGP, J.1: times
| 1 | 93 | Marc Márquez | Honda | 1'47.382 | ||
| 2 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Ducati | 1'47.520 | 0.138 | 0.138 |
| 3 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 1'47.835 | 0.453 | 0.315 |
| 4 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | 1'47.862 | 0.480 | 0.027 |
| 5 | 29 | Andrea Iannone | Suzuki | 1'47.919 | 0.537 | 0.057 |
| 6 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | 1'48.134 | 0.752 | 0.215 |
| 7 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | 1'48.389 | 1.007 | 0.255 |
| 8 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Ducati | 1'48.452 | 1.070 | 0.063 |
| 9 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | 1'48.501 | 1.119 | 0.049 |
| 10 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | 1'48.552 | 1.170 | 0.051 |
| 11 | 21 | Frank MORBIDELLI | Honda | 1'48.654 | 1.272 | 0.102 |
| 12 | 43 | Jack Miller | Ducati | 1'48.680 | 1.298 | 0.026 |
| 13 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | 1'48.808 | 1.426 | 0.128 |
| 14 | 44 | Pol Espargaró | KTM | 1'48.850 | 1.468 | 0.042 |
| 15 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | KTM | 1'48.861 | 1.479 | 0.011 |
| 16 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | 1'48.902 | 1.520 | 0.041 |
| 17 | 5 | johann zarco | Yamaha | 1'48.997 | 1.615 | 0.095 |
| 18 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | 1'49.016 | 1.634 | 0.019 |
| 19 | 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | Honda | 1'49.123 | 1.741 | 0.107 |
| 20 | 45 | Scott REDDING | Aprilia | 1'49.441 | 2.059 | 0.318 |
| 21 | 12 | Thomas LUTHI | Honda | 1'49.690 | 2.308 | 0.249 |
| 22 | 10 | Xavier SIMEON | Ducati | 1'49.925 | 2.543 | 0.235 |
| 23 | 55 | Hafiz Syahrin | Yamaha | 1'49.937 | 2.555 | 0.012 |
| 24 | 81 | Jordi TORRES | Ducati | 1'51.081 | 3.699 | 1.144 |
