This year, as far as possible, that is to say if the videoconference schedule allows it, we have decided to follow as closely as possible Valentino Rossi in his new adventure within the Petronas SRT team, as we were already doing for Johann Zarco (see here) et Fabio Quartararo (see here) in previous seasons.
Concretely, this should result in a maximum of debriefings reported in their entirety so that you can experience the thoughts of the pilot concerned as closely as possible, as usual without any journalistic formatting, and therefore despite each person's own phrasing in a non-native language.
On this Sunday, March 28, 2021, Valentino Rossi answered questions from journalists from the Losail circuit at the end of a disappointing Qatar Grand Prix.
We went to listen (via teleconferencing software) to the Italian pilot's words.
Valentino Rossi : " Of course we expected more, especially after yesterday's qualifying. But I suffered in the race, I suffered a lot because I had a problem with the tires after a few laps. Unfortunately, this had already happened on Friday with my pace: after a few laps I started to have a problem with my rear tire. For some reason I stress the rear tire too much and it loses performance. So after a few laps I'm not fast enough and that also happened today during the race. We were hoping to have a little less problems today because the temperatures were better, a little lower, but unfortunately the feeling was similar. After that, the race became difficult and I suffered a lot. It's true that everyone was close and I lost a lot of position, so it wasn't the race I expected. »
How was the start, because you lost a lot of positions?
« The problem is I need to get off to a good start. Compared to Quartararo and Viñales it wasn't so bad, but all the Ducatis are much much stronger than us and arrive at the first corner with much more speed. Honestly, my departure wasn't too bad, by our standards, but the problem is that they leave faster. »
You and Franco Morbidelli had tried a hard rear tire during testing. Was this in view of the lower temperatures expected today?
« Of course, we expected better, especially after FP4 and qualifying. Yes. But during the long runs, especially on Friday, I already had this feeling. We tried to do something but unfortunately we didn't solve the problem. I don't know what happened to Franco. I think he had a problem with his motorcycle. Yes, we tried the hard rear tire because we had problems on Friday with the soft. But with the hard rear tire we weren't fast enough so we decided to run with the soft. But unfortunately we encountered the same problem even with lower temperatures. »
Considering just the other drivers' races, were you surprised by anything?
« I didn't see the race because unfortunately I was too far away. I really congratulate Maverick because he drove incredibly. At the start he was with me but he had an incredible race, so congratulations to Maverick! Afterwards, I saw that Zarco and Pecco had done a good race and got on the podium after overtaking Mir in the straight while the Suzukis are also fast. So yes, we can now understand the season better, because before the race no one knew. »
Do you already have an idea of what you would like to change for the next weekend?
« For some reason we stress the rear tire too much and it appears that the rear tire loses performance, grip. That's the problem. We talk a lot and we have a lot of meetings where I give my feeling, and now we try to progress and solve the problem to be stronger next week. »
Does the fact that Yamaha won the race make you optimistic to find a solution for next week?
" Yes yes ! Maverick is impressive and he had a fantastic race. It is positive that the Yamaha won. They had something different in the settings compared to us, and it seems to have worked very well. Quartararo was also strong, so it's good to try to understand if we can progress next week. »
Standings for the Qatar MotoGP Grand Prix at Losail:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
