Valentino Rossi returned to his box and his Yamaha this Saturday in the middle of a European Grand Prix in Valencia that started the day before. On this occasion, it was Garett Gerloff who, mobilized to climb on a Yamaha M1 which was totally unknown to him, and very different from his WSBK R1, did the freelance work. The American had finished his day, on a wet track, 19rd. The Doctor, at the end of qualifying limited to Q1, finished one place better. Enough to ask questions...
But those questions won't come. During the press conference, Valentino Rossi spoke about his confinement then his half-brother Luca marini who will be in MotoGP in 2021. And a little also on the Yamaha engine, far from it...
Valentino Rossi will begin his return race to Valencia from 18th on the grid after a wet Saturday. The Doctor finds his Yamaha after having left him since Le Mans. He recalls in fact that he missed the two meetings in Aragon because of a coronavirus infection which made him discover the horrors of confinement…
How did the “Dottore” experience his quarantine? “ It was a difficult experience because I was locked up at home alone for 24 days. Fortunately, I was still physically fine, apart from the first two days. I had a bit of a fever, but I never lost my sense of taste or smell, and luckily I had no trouble breathing. The next three days, you feel a little exhausted, you have to wait for you to recover because you have a severe headache, your eyes hurt... »
« Let's put it this way, your first few days aren't exactly nice. I also lost a little weight because I didn't do anything for almost two weeks, absolute peace of mind ”, reported the 41-year-old pilot from Tavullia, who only obtained a negative test result on Thursday evening and received the green light to travel to Spain.
The wait was a test of patience for the official Yamaha : " the last few days in particular have been difficult because everyone who was infected by me at the same time was negative after two weeks. My tests, however, always came back positive. To be honest, I was really worried about missing Valencia too. Over the last week, I have taken six nasal and throat swabs: every day at 7:30 a.m., a good wake-up call with a PCR test. It wasn't necessarily the best experience of my life, partly because you have to isolate yourself. It is really boring. Watching the races on TV was difficult, especially the second one, because I couldn't have driven the first weekend in Aragon because I felt bad. But being at home when you know you can drive is very frustrating », sighs the Italian.
“Our engine department is the main problem”
Suddenly, the simple fact of being there is enough to make Vale happy: “ I'm very happy to be here again, to work with my team and to be back on my M1. I didn't have any major physical difficulties, the problem is that I didn't ride on Friday. It's more difficult without Friday, but otherwise I feel good with the bike ».
A good feeling which only took him until the 18thrd rank on the starting grid: “ unfortunately the conditions were quite difficult as the asphalt was drying. We are suffering a little from the conditions, but the feeling on the bike is very good ", say again Red. " I am very happy to be here, after 24 days at home ».
After talking about him, he has a thought for Yamaha ... " I had a lot of expectations but the reality is that we haven't taken a big step forward. If we see Franco Morbidelli's performance, he had two very good races on the old bike. I think this year is not much different, but they haven't taken a clear step. I think at Yamaha the engine department is the main problem because the performance is not fantastic. At the same time we also need to create more rear grip. Our engine department is the main problem, because the engine is slow, it breaks and also a mistake was made with the valves. So for me nothing changes ».
He ends by having a thought for his half-brother Luca Marini, officially promoted to MotoGP next year: “ I am very happy to ride with Luca next year, on a good bike, with Ducati. I remember when I won the first title, in 125cc (3), I came home and Luca was 1997 days old. To think that next year we will race together in MotoGP makes me very proud, it's incredible ».
MotoGP Valencia-1 J2: qualifying
