Valentino Rossi has had a really bad day today. He will start tomorrow’s race from 13th on the grid and doesn’t feel confident with the track, its grip conditions and how the tyres are working.
The main focus of Valentino Rossi‘s post qualifying Media appearance have been his struggle with the tyres. When asked about his general feelings, he said:
“It will be difficult for sure. I didn’t expect to struggle that much today since yesterday I had good feeling with the tyre, but the asphalt today had less grip. In conclussion, we are not able to make the tyre work in the right way. Some compounds last longer but have less grip, so there is no ideal choice. I strart on P13, so it will be very tough since the pace is not fantastic, but we will work during the warm up to improve.
He’s also been asked about how he has started from low position before and he finished in good places, but today he doesn’t feel that confident:
“The bike has changed very much, it was much easier to ride last year’s bike on gripless conditions. Last year, with low grip, the tyre worked better and the bike was easier to ride, so it was easier to win the race. I don’t know what has changed this year.”
When asked about Marc Márquez‘s crashes, he stated that “He probably has crashed that much because the asphalt had today, for some reason, less grip than yesterday. Also, he’s had to use harder tyres.”
Finally, he replied a question about his actual pace saying that “The pace is not fantastic, it’s similar to a lot of other riders, apart from Pedrosa, who is faster. It’s not too bad. The problem is with the tyre: works fine for 6 laps, but could not last for 25. So, the tyres may not last the entire the race or may make it very slow.”. He also declared that, if the weather tomorrow, as it is expected, is hotter than today, “it will be more difficult.”