See a Valentino Rossi rank 21st out of 22 drivers entered in MotoGP at the end of a qualifying session is a thought-provoking event. And that comes at a bad time for the Doctor who comes out of a brief controversy with Lucchinelli on his age, his longevity and his retirement which should have already arrived according to his elder. But the Doctor faces up and does not hide behind a tire problem to explain this debacle. He was fourth and jovial on the grid in Qatar. Here he is penultimate and apparently powerless on that of the Doha Grand Prix on the same Losail track…
It is not with this kind of performance that Vale, moreover, will honor its results clause inserted into his one-year contract and to be taken into account for renewal. But this collapse does not hide the cracks also heard in the building Petronas which is cracking. So, Franco Morbidelli will start 10th, and that is also far from the mark for a title contender who already played a joker last week by being the victim of an unknown illness on a smoking M1 during the day on Friday.
Questions are being asked but it is still too early to find the answers. It will be recalled that in 2020, this team won six of the 14 races on the calendar. On his poor performance this Saturday, Valentino Rossi comments: " it was a really difficult day, I was never fast, we tried to improve the feeling at the rear, but things didn't improve and I suffered from spinning on the rear tire. Also, after a few laps my pace is not good and I also suffered in qualifying. I never felt fast, last week I was fast but the pace dropped and we tried to improve things but we couldn't ».
A terrible observation that the nine-time title holder of 42 years continues as follows: “ it will be difficult to start from behind, we will see what can be done. There was a lot of wind on the track and also sand, it was difficult to ride. In qualifying when we put the soft tires on and for some reason we stressed the rear tire and I couldn't push. The race will be difficult not only because I start behind, but also because I don't have the pace ».
Valentino Rossi: “we have big problems”
« Last week at least in qualifying I did well, I was about 1,7 seconds faster than today, a huge gap. We tried to change something on the bike both in terms of settings and electronics to protect the tire, but not only did it not work, but we were also slower in qualifying. In a week, things can change, even if you run on the same track ».
« Of course we are not happy, our goal is to try to stay ahead, to be competitive and instead we have big problems. We have been suffering from rear grip issues for some time, it was not an easy situation. Last week I was fast in qualifying but then I struggled a lot in the race. We must try to understand why. With the team we are always 100% committed, we are not angry, but we are certainly not happy ».
Valentino Rossi finished : " I don't think I need a harder tire. The mix is the same for everyone, and if others can handle it, we should too. So it's not a question of tires ". But then what?
MotoGP Qatar 2 J2: times
Credit rankings: MotoGP.com
