MotoGP Great Britain Silverstone J3 Valentino Rossi: “Soon a carbon arm”

After very good tests, the Campionissimo thought it could count on the good form of the Yamahas to obtain a good result on the new surface at Silverstone. But the Suzuki of Álex Rins and the Honda of Marc Márquez ultimately proved superior to the Yamaha of Maverick Viñales, Valentino Rossi and Franco Morbidelli who finished third, fourth and fifth respectively.

The first free practice session went without problem with the seventh time, then Vale during the second session ended the day on Friday in fourth place, 0.712 behind the other Yamaha of Fabio Quartararo. The third session was even more brilliant, which allowed Rossi to place second in free practice, 0.146 behind El Diablo.

Qualifying was also magnificent, with the second fastest time 0.428 behind Marc Márquez's pole position. At the start of the race, Valentino started brilliantly and quickly occupied second, then third place in the leading group, just behind Marc Márquez et Alex Rins.

But his two opponents quickly clocked 2'00.3, while Rossi was unable to go below 2'00.5. This is how on the fifth lap he found himself 1.8 behind Márquez and Rins, then he was overtaken on the sixth lap by his teammate Maverick Viñales. He followed him until the twelfth lap, when he started to run in 2'00.7 and was then left behind by Viñales.

At the end of the race, the danger came from the fifth Franco Morbidelli (trained at the VR46 Riders Academy!) who was getting closer little by little. But Rossi managed to preserve his fourth position and finished 11.439 behind Álex Rins.

It was Valentino's third best result this year, following his two second places in Argentina and Austin. In terms of qualifications, his second place equaled that already acquired in Texas. Silverstone marked Rossi's 395th Grand Prix, including 335 in 500/MotoGP, 30 in 250 cc and 3 in 30. He has a total of 125 victories, including 115 in 89/MotoGP, 500 in 14 and 250 in 12. He holds 125 world titles, including 9 in the higher category, 7 in 1 and 250 in 1. He currently occupies sixth place in the provisional World Championship ranking with 125 points, two points behind his teammate Maverick Viñales.

According to Valentino Rossi, “ I can't be happy, on the contrary, I'm disappointed. I expected to be stronger, to fight for the podium. I started at the front and in free practice I kept a good pace, even during the warmup this morning. I knew Marc was faster than me, Rins was a surprise, but I was convinced I was going to race at Maverick's level ».

What happened in the race?

« I noticed from the first laps that I had problems with the rear tire, I had no grip. I was never able to be fast enough to stay in the top three. I tried not to let Viñales escape, but I had to slow down towards the middle of the race because the tire was ruined. I was optimistic, but found myself suffering ».

Are you thinking of a defective tire?

“At the end of the race it was badly damaged, as was the case with Miller and Crutchlow, but that was my problem, not the tire's. Compared to Viñales and Quartararo, I suffer more with rear grip. In fact, Maverick kept the same rhythm race only during the tests, unlike me. The heat this afternoon made the situation worse and we now have to find the best way to work to wear the tire less.”

Does this performance cast doubt on your recent progress?

“It’s a shame, but the weekend remains good for me. 'Only in Austin do Ihave been as competitive as at Silverstone, but there I was on the podium.”

In a few days you will be in Misano for two days of testing. What are your expectations ?

“These will be two very important days for the development of next year’s bike. We haven't talked in detail yet about what the program will be, but I hope Yamaha will bring some interesting things. As I said, we need to improve our acceleration and limit tire consumption.”

Almost all competitors use the carbon swingarm. On paper, this could help. Why don't you have it?

“Good question (smile). I have asked the Japanese for this many times and I hope it will happen as quickly as possible. It’s not clear yet, but I believe we won’t have to wait much longer to see it.”

Race results:

Provisional ranking of the World Championship:

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