After two disappointing Grands Prix in Qatar, Valentino Rossi announced, before the start of the Portuguese Grand Prix, that the return to Europe would mark the start of a more favorable period. It is clear that this third meeting of the season in Portimao did not confirm the trend. Totally transparent during qualifying, the Doctor could start to envisage a top 10 in the race before making a mistake. And yet, Vale assures that things are getting better…
Le Portuguese Grand Prix de Valentino Rossi ended with a fall, after starting from the back of the grid from which he still managed to climb back to the points zone. Good performance due to a choice for the rear hard compound initiated by the winner Fabio Quartararo. Unfortunately for Vale, the demonstration ended in the gravel trap. However, at the time of the assessments, the Doctor's diagnosis did not involve the vital prognosis of his career:
On Sky Sport, the pilot Petronas Yamaha commented: “ in MotoGP today it's difficult, because everyone is fast and therefore it's never easy, because you have to be concentrated and with a lot of motivation. We ventured on the hard tire, never used in the tests and it went better. I had more stability and I drove better. But starting from the back of the grid penalized us. I lost the front at turn 10 and it was a shame because taking points would have boosted morale. We will now go to tracks that are more favorable to me and although it will be difficult, we will try to be more competitive ».
Valentino Rossi: “I can’t take advantage of the soft tires”
He pursues : " we need to improve qualifying, I can't take advantage of the soft tires and to aim higher we need to start higher on the grid. As mentioned, it's a shame about the accident, today I was driving better and even though I wasn't very fast, I wasn't doing badly ". And he assures: “ I am more confident about the future ».
On his accident, he specifies: “ the corner where I crashed is very demanding for the front and today in the heat I suffered on the right side. I don't think I did anything different from previous rounds, but something happened ". He finishes : " I lost time with Luca (Marini, his brother, editor's note), perhaps I should have been more aggressive. I was faster than him but I lost one lap too many to overtake him and get closer to Alex Marquez. It's strange to pass my brother, however, I don't think he's afraid to fight with me ».
MotoGP Portugal J3: classification
Credit classification motogp.com
