After a great race which saw him cross the finish line of the San Marino and Rimini Riviera Grand Prix in 4th position on the Misano circuit, Valentino Rossi spoke to the press during a debriefing held at Yamaha Hospitality.
As usual, we report here the raw words of Valentino Rossi, without the slightest journalistic interpretation.
Valentino Rossi : “I wanted to try to fight for the podium because it is always special, here in Misano in front of the crowd, but during the weekend there were certain parts of the corners where I was not strong enough and, In the end, the race was a bit what we expected, since the top 3 had a better pace. So it happened again in the race. So I came fourth and it's a shame for the podium but also because the gap with the top 3 was a little too big. So we have to work harder and try to be more competitive in the next races. »
Two Yamahas finished on the podium, but neither Franco Morbidelli nor yourself, who are taller. Could there be a connection?
“The good thing for us is that the Yamahas were competitive over the weekend and it seems that the other factories had some additional problems compared to us. As you said, Maverick and Quartararo were faster, while Franco and I encountered more problems, in particular we were sliding as we had a little less grip when accelerating for the straight after the corner exit . We suffered and we were slower. For what ? Maybe because we are bigger. Maybe it's because of that, maybe not: we don't know and we have to find the solution for us, to try to be stronger. »
Vale, it seems that you have made a little progress in braking and entering curves, but lost in acceleration. Is it more due to the bike's settings or the riding style?
“We are struggling with rear grip this season, especially compared to Quartararo and also a bit to Maverick: they accelerate better and are able to open the throttle with more grip and exit corners better. After the summer break we changed the balance of the bike and it seems that we have progressed compared to the first half of the season, but it is not enough because although I am not bad when braking and entering the corner, we lose acceleration. We must therefore find the solution to be stronger in this area. »
This is your first ride with the carbon swingarm and dual exhaust. Do you still think it's better?
" Yes ! For me, we had two days of testing where we focused on it, and I love this material. I know it doesn't make a big difference but we are moving in the right direction. I think if Quartararo and Maverick were faster this weekend it was because they drove better, but not because I used the new equipment. And I will continue. »
In past seasons you lacked corner grip, especially over the race distance. Is there any improvement in this area now?
“I think we have made a lot of progress in terms of acceleration. In fact, we have been closer in the last few races, even on difficult tracks like in Austria. I think we've done a good job with the electronics but we still need something in the mechanical side for rear grip. But anyway, the bike worked well this weekend, so we have to work with our team on acceleration. »
MotoGP San Marino Misano J3: race classification
| 1 | 93 | Marc MÁRQUEZ | Honda | 42'25.163 |
| 2 | 20 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Yamaha | +0.903 |
| 3 | 12 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | +1.636 |
| 4 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | +12.660 |
| 5 | 21 | Frank MORBIDELLI | Yamaha | +12.774 |
| 6 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | +13.744 |
| 7 | 44 | Pol ESPARGARÓ | KTM | +20.050 |
| 8 | 36 | Joan Mir | Suzuki | +22.512 |
| 9 | 43 | Jack Miller | Ducati | +26.554 |
| 10 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | +31.456 |
| 11 | 5 | johann zarco | KTM | +32.388 |
| 12 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARÓ | Aprilia | +34.477 |
| 13 | 53 | Tito RABAT | Ducati | +35.325 |
| 14 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Honda | +47.247 |
| 15 | 55 | Hafiz Syahrin | KTM | + 1'02.280 |
| 16 | 88 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | KTM | + 1'07.831 |
| 17 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | + 1'24.666 |
| 18 | 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | Honda | 1 laps |
| Not Classified | ||||
| 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | 5 lapses | |
| 51 | Michael PIRRO | Ducati | 6 lapses | |
| 42 | Áex RINS | Suzuki | 12 lapses | |
| 63 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati | 16 lapses |
