This Saturday was not an excellent day for Valentino Rossi who missed the end of his FP3 to the point of finding himself in Q1. In this tight fifteen-minute competition, he made a mistake while Johann Zarco headed head-high towards Q2. But as the Frenchman, third regularly on the starting grid, will return his place by serving a penalty, the Doctor will recover a position on Sunday. This is far from consoling him for a weak Yamaha on the Red Bull Ring…
Valentino Rossi was transparent during this Saturday of Grand Prix of Styria. The official Yamaha was only 15th overall after FP3 and he fell in Q1 by trying to set a reference time opening the doors of Q2. The one who finished fifth in the Austrian Grand Prix last weekend on the same Red Bull Ring track was satisfied with 14th fastest time.
« Unfortunately, this error happened to me in Q1. But the biggest problem and the unfortunate mistake came in the morning because I was very fast, but I braked too late before turn 9, I was carried away, otherwise I would have made the top 10 and I would have done directly in Q2 mounted. I paid dearly for this mistake » regrets Vale.
« Then, all the drivers were very fast in Q1, Zarco in particular. He had already taken a time which would have been sufficient for the first line”, said Valentino. “ Unfortunately I hit the white line on the inside, that's why I fell. I could have done 1'23,8 min... Petrux did 1'23, 0,78 min. So I could have ousted him. But it didn't work. We suffer a lot with the Yamaha on this fast track, especially on a single timed lap. But with the pace of the race, I see four drivers faster than us. So my pace is good because I can follow these four drivers ».
“We have a little less engine performance”
For Sunday, variable weather is expected. “ We have to find out what conditions await us in the race and then try to have a good race ", said Red. Like Yamaha, Suzuki has inline four-cylinder engines. But Joan mir et alex rins are often stronger than Yamaha aces. How to explain it? “ This route is not very positive for the M1. Our engine is not very powerful. And since we had some engine damage, we now have a little less performance ».
« As for the Suzukis, they are faster because they have more grip when accelerating. If you step up the gas, they come out of the corners faster than us. With us, the rear wheel turns more than with them. This is our great weakness. We strive to improve, but we still suffer from this lack of traction. This circuit is not fantastic ».
A word about Marc Marquez
He ends by commenting on the news that the return of Marc Marquez evening postponed until the Greek calendars… “ Mark? Many throughout the history of motorcycling have managed to make “nearly” miraculous recoveries, because we don’t do miracles. However, when you have such a serious fracture, the operation alone takes time. He showed that we are human too, that he is human and that our body, even if we recover quickly, needs time ».
MotoGP Austria 2 J2: qualifying (Johann Zarco will start from the pit lane)
