This Sunday August 29, 2021, Valentino Rossi answered questions from journalists from the Silverstone circuit, at the end of the MotoGP British Grand Prix.
We went to listen (via teleconference software) to the words of the Italian driver who obtained his best qualification of the year, in 8th position, on a track where he started from 2nd position during the last edition.
As usual, we report here the words of Valentino Rossi without the slightest formatting.
Valentino Rossi : " I am really disappointed ! All weekend I felt good on the bike, I could be fast in the technical points, I was competitive. We knew the hard rear tire would be more effective for us, but today it was too cold and we had to go with the medium. So we expected to have some additional problems, but not like this.
I got a good start, finally, and during the first laps I was in the group, which is important. I was more or less in the positions I expected to be able to fight with my pace, eighth or ninth place I think, but after 5-6 laps the rear tire went incredibly bad on the right side and I had no more grip. It was as if the tire had burned and then the rubber had lost a lot of performance. I started losing 1, 2, 3 seconds per lap, and I tried to get to the end but I was very, very slow. It's really a shame and I'm very sad because I wanted to try to get a good result here, because I like the circuit and there was a good atmosphere with a lot of fans around the track. And in particular because I felt good with the bike because it is a very fast track with technical places. During the weekend, I was always competitive and I wanted to get into the top 10, but it is what it is. »
Andrea Dovizioso will be your teammate from Misano. What do you think this can bring to Yamaha?
« Yes, I am happy to have Dovi because he has a lot of experience and he is very fast. And, what's more, especially because we have a good relationship. We have always fought together since 2008, and I am very happy that he is coming back. I think he can also bring things to Yamaha to improve the bike, and I'm happy that we are teammates. »
We saw six different bikes in the top six today. All the bikes seem very close, so what would it take for the Yamaha to improve?
« Our motorcycle is generally very rider friendly. It's a good bike, with good handling and agility. But we are suffering with the engine: The engine is our weak point and we lose a little in a straight line compared to the best. But the Yamaha appears very competitive with Quartararo. »
Was there any chance of being able to use the hard rear tire today?
« Unfortunately no ! Unfortunately today it was not possible to use the hard because there was not enough temperature for the rubber to work. I knew it would be a little more difficult for us with the medium because yesterday I was faster with the hard. But we had no choice, we had to run with the medium because it was very cold today. »
We actually saw a lot of riders whose rear tire seemed to be burned on the side…
« Not as much as mine, that's for sure! »
How was it this weekend with Jake Dixon?
« I think he did a good job because yesterday he was in 2'00.8, which is already a good time. He feels good on the bike and he's already riding it well, so it's a positive weekend for him. And of course, riding the M1 is awesome and a dream for a Moto2 rider. So I think he used his time in a positive way. »
In Italian, Valentino Rossi then clarified the problems encountered…
« I really wanted to do well on this track, but the truth is that since mid-2019 we still have the same problem: Obviously we are overworking the rear tire. We did everything, changed the settings, and I changed my riding style, but it's no use. Today, I saw more or less all the drivers, from the first to the last, I don't see any difference between my way of driving and theirs. This thing happened to me 7 or 8 times: It's like the backside is on fire. You have to go slower, up to two seconds per lap, and you can't angle anymore. We did everything, we used a similar setup to Quartararo, and I don't do things that different from others. It's true that I'm a little taller and thinner, but I'm not twice as tall! We try to understand, we look at the data: In practice, I am sometimes fast, but in the race, I suffer. At Michelin, they don't tell us anything special. They tell you: Quartararo wins with the same tires… So we have to solve the problem inside the team with Yamaha. We did a lot of analysis, and the rear tire heats up more. The truth is that we are desperate, we don't know which way to turn. »
MotoGP British Grand Prix results:
Credit rankings: MotoGP.com
