Valentino Rossi had a good first FP1 of the year!
Certainly, he was not as dominant as his teammate, and certainly, he was able to take advantage of Maverick Vinales' trail to climb to second place during the last minutes of the session, but we know that the Yamaha rider did not I don't love the exercise of tests, and even less the one consisting of achieving "a killer time"...
Instead, the Doctor is already working for the race, moving towards a Hard front/Medium or Soft rear tire combination, very different from Jorge Lorenzo's Soft/Soft. Another notable difference, Yamaha #46 seems to have abandoned any desire to sport fins, these appendages being considered unsightly by its owner.
“The first session was positive. I'm quite satisfied because it's a solid way to start the season since not only is this second position good, but the times are already not that bad either. They are around 1'55 and the pace is pretty good. We started working from what we did during testing. This means that we did a good job during the pre-season, and we start with a good base, but now we have to stay diligent. The track conditions change a lot from session to session and, together with the team, we have to do a good job to be ready when the grip becomes better. I will try to improve the feeling and make the right decision for the tires. »
In front of the MotoGP.com website camera, Valentino Rossi clarified: “I'm happy with this first session because, above all, we are already at 55.7, which is a little faster than during the Tests, meaning that we are already quite strong. Then I was second, which is a really good way to start, but the track conditions were very different from the Tests. »
Valentino Rossi concluded this session second, 0.267 behind Jorge Lorenzo, the two Yamaha riders thus repeating their respective rankings in the 1 World Championship during this FP2015.