This Friday October 22, 2021, Valentino Rossi answered questions from journalists from the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, at the end of the first day of the Gran Premio Nolan del Made in Italy e dell'Emilia-Romagna.
We went to listen (via teleconferencing software) to the words of the Italian rider who is racing here for the last time at home, at least as a regular MotoGP rider…
As usual, we report here the words of Valentino Rossi without the slightest formatting.
Valentino Rossi : " I have mixed feelings because I wasn't so bad in FP1, when it was completely wet and there was quite a bit of water on the track. I was pretty fast, I had a good feeling with the bike and I wasn't far from the top 10. So it wasn't too bad. But unfortunately, in the afternoon we had these mixed conditions where we suffered a lot. When the track started to dry we were still struggling and the bike became very difficult to ride. So in the afternoon, I wasn't very fast. »
What do you think of raising the minimum age of riders in Moto3 and Moto2?
« I saw that in the world championship, the age went from 16 to 18 in Moto3 and Moto2. That's it ? And in MotoGP? 18 years old like now, ok. Going from 16 to 18, especially in Moto3, is a big change because everyone wants to start as early as possible. That's a big difference, because two years is a long time! 18 years… many drivers will have to wait. Of course it will be better for security, but I don't know if it will solve all the problems. I think it is more important that drivers behave well when they are on the track than their age. Management must therefore follow the races more precisely and be more strict. Going to 18 is a pretty big step: Imagine that I started in the world championship at 17, 26 years ago! So 18 is pretty high. »
A few years ago, the drivers at your academy had problems in the wet and mixed conditions, but today they have improved a lot. Do you work on this with them?
« We sometimes train in the wet, even if it is difficult to manage and organize. Normally, when it rains we are more on the ground than on the asphalt. But it's still very important because normally to be fast in the dry is something you have naturally, but in the wet the majority of drivers have to work a little. So it's important. For example, I wasn't very fast in the wet at the beginning but I worked a lot during my career, during testing and during races, and I was also good in the wet. Now I think we are struggling technically, because with our bike, especially in the mixed conditions, it is very difficult. So we pay. We have to try to progress, especially the feeling with the bike which, in these conditions, makes a lot of difference. »
We heard that your current team members will be working with you on your team next year. Can you confirm this?
« Yes. I don't know if it's official but I think my team, David (Muñoz, team leader) and Matteo (Flamigni, data engineer), will work with us. I think one will go with my brother and the other with Bez, if everything continues as normal. And there is also Idalio Gavira, who is my coach, who will work with us and will be the coach of the two drivers. I think it's good because they have a lot of experience and work really well. So it’s good to have that kind of experience on our team.
»
Results of FP2 of the MotoGP Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Misano:
Credit Ranking: motogp.com
