MotoGP Czech Republic Brno J1: Rossi breaks but it works, except with the other riders

Valentino Rossi took over like his other colleagues this Friday, near Brno. An appointment, however, perhaps more special for the Doctor who must stop a bad series to better silence rumors of retirement. He is even presented with a bad knee, but it was his engine that broke this Friday. A breakage that got people talking but Rossi remains above the fray and he is even in the top 10…

An important ranking which opens the doors to Q2. Saturday morning, in fact, an FP3 on a wet track is announced. It was therefore necessary not to miss your Friday, which Red has succeeded : " it was good to be able to go back to a Grand Prix track after the long break and drive the M1, it was a good feeling. It was important to stay in the top 10 today, because tomorrow we have to expect rain in FP3. The predictions aren't fantastic. But thanks to the 9th place, we can sleep in peace and wait for the weather in the morning ».

Red had a problem with the Yamaha at the start of FP2, he was clearly smoking, a warning of a future engine failure. “ It was an old engine with a lot of running time. I think something broke, but I'm not sure what happened there » declared the 40-year-old Italian.

A mechanical incident that got people talking because the Doctor brought the smoking motorcycle back to the box rather than leaving it on the side of the track as soon as the first signs of the problem appeared. At the risk of staining the bitumen with oil? He explains " I pulled the clutch before the engine really engaged. Because I felt the performance was inferior. If you grab the clutch quickly enough, you usually don't lose any oil. I checked everything, left and right and behind, I saw smoke, but I didn't see any oil, but I still drove very far from the ideal line. Also, I didn't see any oil on either of my boots, so I finished the ride carefully. We then mounted these tires on the other bike and set off again ».

Certainly, but the matter was discussed between the pilots in a Safety Commission where it was reminded that we stop when we suffer an engine failure. The race management will not look further into this incident…

Red finished more than seven tenths behind the leader of the day who is none other than fabio quartararo, Yamaha satellite pilot. A gap that does not destabilize him: “ we tried different tires in FP2. My pace is not bad, but we still have a lot of work, because after a few laps the tires start to slip heavily. This makes it difficult to maintain a constant pace. But it's the key to success for a good race ».

On the state of the track, he quips: “ the Brno bumps are famous. I have known them since 1996, they are unchanged in exactly the same places, I can name them by name. We have them at the entry to turn 8 and at the entry to turn 10, in the finish curve and so on. The condition of the asphalt only gets worse from year to year. But I'm used to it. The major problem is rather the strong slack of the rear tire. All blends have a huge drop. This will be key on Sunday. You have to try to be fast without pulling too much on the rear tire. Because the big fall comes after three or four of the 21 laps ».

MotoGP Czech Republic Brno J1: times

Classification credit: MotoGP.com