It was a close call for this Friday to Misano does not turn into a disaster for Valentino Rossi. For a very long time around an anonymous fifteenth place, the Doctor only found the solution at the very end of FP2 to finally reach a top 10 qualifier for Q.2. What to worry about? Yes and no, because the Doctor still diagnoses the best compared to the tests carried out on the same route on the edge of the Adriatic…
"Je suis dans le top dix et c’est très important“. Ce constat sonnait presque comme un cri de victoire de la part de l’officiel Yamaha qui n’a pas donné à ses nombreux fans l’occasion de s’enthousiasmer en ce vendredi de Grand Prix de San Marino. Mais l’essentiel est néanmoins acquis, à la veille d’un samedi annoncé pluvieux, si bien que les non présents dans cette première partie du classement semblent d’ores et déjà condamnés aux repêchages.
That being said, the man from a nearby village of Tavullia analyzes: “For sure it was a difficult day, especially with the tyres. We expected to work with the harder option because when we came here for testing the grip was high. But whatever the reason, and also because of yesterday's rain, the track is more slippery. We must therefore work more with the soft and medium. From a certain point of view I'm quite satisfied because I feel better on the bike compared to the test. We changed the settings and improved, especially in the fast parts where I am now not so bad. But we have a lot of work to do because I suffer when braking; It's a little difficult to brake. We also have a lot of work to do on the electronics to find the right way to deliver power. But the first goal was to reach the top 10 today, which is always very important, and here we are. But to have a good race, we still have to work a lot and improve our speed.”
Asked about his comings and goings to the box this morning, the nine-time champion replied: “This morning, I had a problem with the 2nd bike because unfortunately, the settings on them were not working. This caused us a bit of confusion during the session then I tried the medium tire but it wasn't enough to reach the top 10, especially since, like at Silverstone, I had the checkered flag for just one second. Maybe if I had an extra lap I could have held on there, and I got the checkered flag and got out of there. So yes, we had some problems this morning.”
During the test in Misano carried out 15 days ago, Michelle Gadda was alongside Valentino Rossi. Help that is starting to bear fruit...
“In my opinion, we are working more for the future. But at the same time, here in Misano we tried something different regarding acceleration. Something we also tried at Silverstone. And honestly, it's already a little better. But it seems like Maverick has improved more than me. So for me, we still have to work, but I think the whole team and Michele are working especially for the future, because at the moment we have more or less the same material.”
San Marino Grand Prix, Misano, MotoGP J.1: Chronos FP2
| 1 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 1'32.198 | ||
| 2 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Ducati | 1'32.358 | 0.160 | 0.160 |
| 3 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | 1'32.385 | 0.187 | 0.027 |
| 4 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | 1'32.411 | 0.213 | 0.026 |
| 5 | 93 | Marc Márquez | Honda | 1'32.537 | 0.339 | 0.126 |
| 6 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | 1'32.722 | 0.524 | 0.185 |
| 7 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | 1'32.775 | 0.577 | 0.053 |
| 8 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | 1'32.786 | 0.588 | 0.011 |
| 9 | 21 | Frank MORBIDELLI | Honda | 1'32.980 | 0.782 | 0.194 |
| 10 | 5 | johann zarco | Yamaha | 1'32.985 | 0.787 | 0.005 |
| 11 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | 1'32.999 | 0.801 | 0.014 |
| 12 | 51 | Michael PIRRO | Ducati | 1'33.005 | 0.807 | 0.006 |
| 13 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Ducati | 1'33.183 | 0.985 | 0.178 |
| 14 | 43 | Jack Miller | Ducati | 1'33.193 | 0.995 | 0.010 |
| 15 | 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | Honda | 1'33.274 | 1.076 | 0.081 |
| 16 | 29 | Andrea Iannone | Suzuki | 1'33.423 | 1.225 | 0.149 |
| 17 | 45 | Scott REDDING | Aprilia | 1'33.517 | 1.319 | 0.094 |
| 18 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | 1'33.654 | 1.456 | 0.137 |
| 19 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | Honda | 1'33.660 | 1.462 | 0.006 |
| 20 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | KTM | 1'33.815 | 1.617 | 0.155 |
| 21 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | 1'33.878 | 1.680 | 0.063 |
| 22 | 10 | Xavier SIMEON | Ducati | 1'33.896 | 1.698 | 0.018 |
| 23 | 12 | Thomas LUTHI | Honda | 1'34.278 | 2.080 | 0.382 |
| 24 | 44 | Pol Espargaró | KTM | 1'34.461 | 2.263 | 0.183 |
| 25 | 55 | Hafiz Syahrin | Yamaha | 1'34.539 | 2.341 | 0.078 |
| 26 | 23 | Christophe PONSSON | Ducati | 1'38.154 | 5.956 | 3.615 |
