It is a Valentino Rossi with mixed feelings who left his territory of Misano. An entire circuit dressed in yellow and inhabited by a crowd in adoration for his cause. An attachment which marked the Doctor who would have liked so much to reward this fervor with a victory. But that was without counting on the resurrection of Pedrosa.
A tension that the hero of Tavullia deciphers: “ this kind of weekend is always very demanding because he organizes everything even better than usual and everything becomes more difficult. But everything is rewarded by the lap you make when leaving the boxes to reach the starting grid. You then see all these people for yourself. It's a feeling that's both fantastic and hard to explain. ».
So, in such a context, everything is exacerbated. The gestures, the words, the defeat. But upon regaining his senses, Valentino Rossi notes that his second place is not in the least a bad result: “ it's always a great satisfaction to finish in front of Márquez because he is always very strong and extremely fast. Beating him means you had a great race. For the moment I am happy with the way this second part of the season is going. Of course, I didn't win on Sunday but we will continue like this until the end ».
He then returns to his San Marino Grand Prix: “ it was a good weekend, we worked well on the bike, we were able to progress. I got off to a good start, attacked Lorenzo straight away and attacked to escape. But I was never able to get more than a second ahead. This race was very physically demanding and it's always harder when you're the one setting the pace in front ».
« I knew it would be hard, as always. I was able to lap in 1'32.2 alone, which is a good pace. But Pedrosa arrived. He was much faster. I tried first to resist and then to stay in the wheel. But it was impossible to follow and there were seven laps left, far too many before the finish. He was driving too fast, he was too strong. We had made the right choice of tires. I wouldn't have been able to use Pedrosa's tires. This year, each driver must choose their tire, it's not like before. But it was a great weekend, a great race. However, I wanted to win it, more than the others ».
Here he is 43 points behind Márquez in the championship: “ yes, but there are only five races left, the gap is too big ". Next deadline in Aragon in two weeks.
