This pre-Italian Grand Prix press conference brought together no less than seven drivers, with Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Marquez, Valentino Rossi, Dani Pedrosa, Maverick Vinales, Andrea Iannone and Danilo Petrucci.
And while one might have thought that the transfer news would unleash questions from journalists, that was not really the case.
Furthermore, Valentino Rossi, although at home but not in the heat of the news, was content with relatively brief answers to relatively uninteresting questions.
Roll on tomorrow...
Valentino Rossi: “It's always a special weekend and a special race here at Mugello, because since my first year in the world championship, the circuit is fantastic, one of the best, as is the atmosphere which is always good , so we have to try to be strong there, to be competitive, because in recent years, I have never been fast enough to fight for victory, nor to make a good qualification. So this year, we will try to be stronger from tomorrow. And we hope for good weather because today the weather was very bad and I think all the drivers are hoping for good weather for the weekend. »
Maverick Vinales will be your teammate…
" Yes. I think it will be very hard because Maverick is very strong, very young and with great potential, so I will have another very strong teammate. »
You are involved in KISS, an operation to keep Mugello clean…
" Yes. It's very interesting and we will also sell t-shirts for a charity, for a hospital in Florence, to keep Mugello sustainable and also clean. »
Do you remember your first race here, in Cagiva Mito?
“No, I remember more my first Italian Grand Prix in 125cc in 1996. It was very good, above all thanks to the circuit whose layout is special, up and down, one of the best, but also because, if the number of spectators is similar to other circuits, you feel them more here because they are closer to the track. It's a great emotion, at Casanova and Savelli (turns 6 and 7) with all these people.
Regarding my very first race, I don't remember. Maybe it was in Stock Production with a Caviga Mito, but when you start, Mugello seems very difficult and very long, and with a Stock Production it takes you maybe a week to do a lap (smiles). but then, year after year, you learn the trajectories and try to give your maximum. »
