Valentino Rossi arrives as a distinguished figure in Spain. First, he is the rider on the grid who shone the most at Jerez, with nine victories to his credit including one in 125cc, and another in 250cc, then one in 500cc and six others in MotoGP. In total, the transalpine has won twenty-one times in Spain, including Catalunya and Valencia. And that's not all…
Last year, Valentino Rossi had dominated his opponents in Jerez, which had not happened since 2009, what's more by starting from pole position and leading each lap. This year, the Doctor comes at the top of the provisional ranking in Jerez, a first since the 2015 campaign. Other statistics to show that this meeting in Spain will not be like the others? It will be the 3th Grand Prix in history and Yamaha will be there to collect its 000rd victory.
All that to say that this is the kind of test sized for a living legend living in Tavullia. Who reflects a little on the long and glorious journey traveled: “ In 1996, I had my first test in 125 at Jerez and I realized the difference in level by being overtaken on all sides. I was three seconds behind the best, it was quite traumatic ».
« Today, all the experience acquired makes me better understand what I need. You also take things more philosophically. Besides that, I'm less courageous because I risked more ten years ago, but I don't know if that's really a disadvantage. I take things more calmly. My goal for the upcoming races is to be faster, to progress, but above all to have fun ».
Still, there is another legend to challenge. Giacomo Agostini. Vale is only eight victories away from his record number of victories, which rose to 122 achievements: “ Of course I'm not that far away, but it will be difficult because in recent years I haven't postponed any Grand Prix so much. But I'm happy with my score and we'll aim to have a good weekend here, to give our all and have a great race. It won't be easy to score this 500th success for Yamaha either. I know it's a big number for them, so we'll try ».
