Valentino Rossi's performances on this first day of the Catalan Grand Prix are hardly exciting. That's the least we can say... Fifteenth in the morning, it was downright nineteenth that he finished his Friday on the Montmelo track which nevertheless reminded his teammate Morbidelli of the ranch... But yes, at Mugello , it was the straight line with the top speed of the Yamaha that posed a problem, this time, it was the turns…
We will modestly describe the beginnings of Valentino Rossi in this Grand Prix of Catalonia as difficult... The one who was eight times World Champion and who boasts 115 victories did not exceed the 19th time during the first day of testing at Barcelona. This seventh race of the MotoGP season promises to be a new procession.
In the morning session, Le Doctor had set the 15th time, while in the afternoon, despite changes in settings, the situation deteriorated. The problem is the turns. At least that’s what emerges from Vale’s analysis. “ This morning I wasn't fantastic but I wasn't that bad. I had a better feeling on the bike, but my position was not fantastic because we didn't change the tires. But I felt better. This afternoon we tried a different setting to mainly improve braking but I didn't feel comfortable. I was too slow and couldn't turn the bike, so my position is very bad ».
« I'm far behind and I was slow even in the hunt for the time with the soft tire. This morning the bike was very similar to the one used at Mugello, with the normal adaptation between Mugello and Barcelona, such as the rear spring. But the bike was very similar. This afternoon, we tried to change the weight distribution to improve braking, but afterwards, unfortunately, I no longer felt the front when entering a corner and I was too slow, my pace was bad, the feeling was poor. It wasn't good. Saturday we will return to a similar set-up to that of this Friday morning and we will see our potential. Compared to last year, it changes a little in terms of settings because we are following a different path. But it's difficult to compare, first of all because the temperatures are different because we raced in October last year, and the tires are also different. The front tire is different and the rear rubber is not the same. Last year we ran with the soft, this year we will run more with the medium or the hard: it's very difficult but I think the settings are a little different. Normally I like the hard, like for example in Portugal, but sometimes, like in Jerez, you can't use it because then you are too slow, because you have less grip. But it seems that today, Franco in particular but also other drivers are strong with the hard rear. So I will try it tomorrow for sure, and hopefully we can be better » said the man from Tavullia.
Rossi: “Sunday, those who are good at driving with little grip will be strong”
He adds : " as I said, this morning, I had a good feeling, I was 15th but I hadn't changed tires. This afternoon, however, the bike's balance was not good. I could brake hard but I couldn't get into the corner fast enough because I had a lot of understeer and I was losing the line. If I wanted to stay on the right trajectory, I had to return too slowly, so the feeling was unfortunately not good this afternoon. We tried to improve but we just did worse. On this track there is always little grip and then the tires suffer a lot because there are a lot of fast and long corners, where you take a lot of angle. On Sunday those who are good at driving with little grip will be strong ».
He ends with a mention of the new turn 10 proposed in this edition in Catalonia: “ the new turn 10 is difficult, very technical. It is difficult to find the ideal trajectory and apex point. However, I prefer it to the one used until last year, also because it is very reminiscent of the “classic” one of the Catalan circuit ". A time that seems so distant today.
MotoGP Catalonia Barcelona J1: times
Credit classification motogp.com
