This Friday October 1, 2021, Valentino Rossi answered questions from journalists from the Circuit of the Americas, at the end of the first day of the Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
We went to listen (via teleconferencing software) to the words of the Italian driver who finished 2nd during the last edition, in 2019.
As usual, we report here the words of Valentino Rossi without the slightest formatting.
Valentino Rossi : " Hmmm…I don’t feel very well. It's not a good day for us because we are quite slow, and in particular we suffered a lot in the wet because we lost a lot of acceleration, as if we didn't have enough grip at the rear. In the wet, it's very difficult! In the dry, the situation is a little better because there are fewer differences, but anyway, I'm not very strong. I suffer a lot on bumps. The track conditions are quite critical and we need to improve that because I'm quite slow in places where there are bumps. We have to try to do better and try to improve our pace. Today the weather forecast was very, very bad but finally we were able to ride in the dry, so we hope that for tomorrow, and more particularly for Sunday, it will be dry and sunny. »
A lot of riders complained about the bumps today saying it was very risky and very dangerous. Do you think the same thing and will you go to the safety commission?
« The track is good. I love the track and a lot of drivers love the track. But the track has many, many bumps. Usually here in America the trails have more bumps. We have talked about this topic of bumps a hundred times at the safety commission, especially in turns 2, 3, 4 and 10, for example, on the back straight, and there is also a big bump in turn 18: They tell us that they are working, that they are putting new asphalt and that they are solving the problem. They actually improved a lot on turn 18 and the back straight, where the situation is definitely better, but in turns 2, 3, 4 and especially turn 10, the track conditions are arguably worse than 'in 2019. So it's dangerous, yes! »
Quartararo also said there were three different types of asphalt and it was a bit tricky in the wet. Do you agree with this?
« Yes yes ! There are three different asphalts with three different grips! It's very tricky in the dry but even more so in the wet, because you should know that the feelings are really different between the new asphalts and the old one. Yes yes. I agree. But I think the biggest problem is the bumps. »
Physically, do you think it will be difficult to do the whole race on Sunday because of the bumps?
« Yes. Already, Austin is very physically demanding because you have powerful braking and a lot of changes of direction. Usually it's cooler in April, so it's easier, whereas now it's very hot. With that amount of bumps it's hard to keep pace, and physically you have to really squeeze the bike over the bumps. It will be difficult! It will be difficult to race, for everyone, yes. »
Do you use the ride height device on this track?
« The start device is not bad, it's a small advantage we have a little less wheelies, so we are a little faster on this point. »
Many drivers say it will be difficult to complete the race distance. Would it be an option to shorten this one?
« Tonight there is the safety commission and I think a lot of drivers will go there because a lot of drivers are worried about the bumps. Yes, fewer laps wouldn't solve the bump problem, so it would still be dangerous, but fewer laps would be a little easier physically. It would be a little better. But I don't know if it's possible, or if they'll find a good way to make the race shorter. »
MotoGP Americas Grand Prix FP2 results:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
