It's now been ten Grands Prix that we haven't seen Valentino Rossi on a podium. In Valencia, he was still absent. And as it was the last test of the year, the Doctor was forced to record the fact of a victoryless campaign. A first with Yamaha. However, in two successive meetings, he asserted himself as a candidate for victory. But like in Malaysia, two weeks earlier, the last four laps were too much...
As at Sepang, Vale's hopes collapsed four laps from the finish. Until then, he admirably saved a meeting that was getting off to a bad start. A fall causing a painful shoulder, qualifications ended for an anonymous person sixteenth place, but after ten laps of the race, he was back in the leading trio. Before the interruption of hostilities at the red flag, he seemed able to take the advantage. But the rain and the raised arm of Dovizioso changed the situation.
There was a second departure after the wrath of heaven had subsided. The rest is told by the man from Tavullia: “ I was not lucky. Because in the first part of the race I had the right tire at the front and I probably would have managed to beat Rins and Dovizioso. But we stopped. In the second part of the race, Dovizioso had an extra tire and he said so. He was faster, he was better. I tried to catch up with him, but I knew I couldn't do it. But it was a fall I didn't expect ».
He pursues : " the last two races were good performances. I fought to win and that's something to keep in mind. But I was wrong, I made a mistake and I am truly sorry. So it's a disappointment for me, for Yamaha and for the whole team, because it's been a long time since I got on the podium ».
The season is over and all attention is now focused on the upcoming tests which will dictate the 2019 line. On Tuesday we will mainly work on the new engine specifications » specifies the Doctor. “ We need help from Yamaha, I see them focused. During this test and in Jerez, we have a few things to test. It will be important that we know where we are at the beginning of February, to see if we have improved ».
Valencia Grand Prix, Ricardo Tormo, MotoGP, J.3: classification.
| 1 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 24'03.408 |
| 2 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | +2.750 |
| 3 | 44 | Pol Espargaró | KTM | +7.406 |
| 4 | 51 | Michael PIRRO | Ducati | +8.647 |
| 5 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | +13.351 |
| 6 | 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | Honda | +32.288 |
| 7 | 5 | johann zarco | Yamaha | +32.806 |
| 8 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | KTM | +33.111 |
| 9 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | Honda | +36.376 |
| 10 | 55 | Hafiz Syahrin | Yamaha | +37.198 |
| 11 | 45 | Scott REDDING | Aprilia | +44.326 |
| 12 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Ducati | +46.146 |
| 13 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | +52.809 |
| 14 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | + 1'10.628 |
| 15 | 81 | Jordi TORRES | Ducati | + 1'16.739 |
| Not Classified | ||||
| 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Ducati | 7 lapses | |
| 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | 0 laps | |
| 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | 0 laps | |
| 93 | Marc Márquez | Honda | 0 laps | |
| 29 | Andrea Iannone | Suzuki | 0 laps | |
| 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | 0 laps | |
| 43 | Jack Miller | Ducati | 0 laps | |
| 21 | Frank MORBIDELLI | Honda | 0 laps | |
| 12 | Thomas LUTHI | Honda | 0 laps |
