Valentino Rossi left the Losail route on Friday with a lot of questions. Lacking sensations with the front of his Yamaha, he returned to the Qatari track this Saturday and the work began with an ominous fall. The rest was as expected with unsatisfactory times before the revelation at the end of the year. The Doctor is back on the straight and narrow and his Secondly behind his teammate Vinales makes him forget the nasty scratches which were the consequence of his accident.
It’s a Valentino Rossi still beaten by his teammate, a little upset by his fall, but above all relieved who took stock of his second day in Qatar. In the Losail desert an oasis was seen in terms of setting and it will be necessary to ensure tomorrow that it is not a mirage: “ we made radical changes to the settings » announces the nine-time titleholder. “ But unfortunately, we started with a fall. I lost the front in turn 7 and now have damaged fingers and a sore hande ”.
« But hey, today was a good day. It's important to have been able to improve our level so significantly. I drove faster than yesterday. We really progressed in the sensations with the bike. I am relieved because until now these winter tests have been complicated. I have never been good at this type of exercise. This is also why today's result is important to me ».
« We will try to continue like this tomorrow. I want to check how good our pace is and raise it further. Since this offseason, I can't feel the front tire with the new chassis, it's too soft for me. I can't take turns quickly. We changed a lot of things again today and I thank Yamaha because the engineers really racked their brains to get to this point, especially since the last tests at Phillip Island. We reviewed everything from top to bottom but it was worth it ».
From one day to another, Valentino Rossi gained almost a second with his Yamaha. A trend to be confirmed tomorrow which will be the last day of these tests.
Massimo Meregalli, Team Director: “ It was a good and productive day for us, which showed in the results. We, the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team, secured the first two places while Yamaha secured the first three, demonstrating the strength of the YZR-M1. We've done a lot of work today and this gives us a good understanding of the final things we need to tackle tomorrow.
Vinales is very comfortable with the setup of his bike, and looks nicely in shape for the race weekend. He's already looking very competitive, setting fast and consistent times, and we're confident that with the final set-up adjustments tomorrow we can take another step forward.
Vale suffered a crash early in the session, which damaged his first bike, but it was a blessing in disguise. Although he slightly injured his hand, the incident forced him to continue work on his second bike, which gave him the feeling with the front that he had been looking for during the winter season. allowing us to take a good step forward today.
Our testing schedule is almost complete, and we aim to do a race simulation tomorrow, with both drivers, which will give us important information for the next race weekend.”
Chronos Qatar J2:
1. Maverick Vinales, Yamaha, 1:54,455
2. Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, 1:54,732
3. Jonas Folger, Yamaha, 1:54,917
4. Cal Crutchlow, Honda, 1:55,032
5. Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia, 1:55,121
6. Marc Marquez, Honda, 1:55,196
7. Alvaro Bautista, Ducati, 1:55,245
8. Jorge Lorenzo, Ducati, 1:55,344
9. Scott Redding, Ducati, 1:55,353
10. Johann Zarco, Yamaha, 1:55,354
11. Karel Abraham, Ducati, 1:55,420
12. Andrea Iannone, Suzuki, 1:55,545
13. Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati, 1:55,583
14. Danilo Petrucci, Ducati, 1:56,680
15. Loris Baz, Ducati, 1:55,808
16. Dani Pedrosa, Honda, 1:55,875
17. Alex Rins, Suzuki, 1:56,110
18. Tito Rabat, Honda, 1:56,214
19. Jack Miller, Honda, 1:56,251
20. Sam Lowes, Aprilia, 1:57,276
21. Pol Espargaro, KTM, 1:57,648
22. Bradley Smith, KTM, 1:57,267
23. Mika Kallio, KTM, 1:57,688
