Extends contract through 2018
Rossi signs a two-year extension with Movistar Yamaha, continuing with the team for 2017 and 2018 seasons.
I am very satisfied with this decision. It has always been my plan to compete in motorsport for as long as I can be competitive and find it enjoyable at the same time.
Qatar Qualifying: 5th place
After qualifying, Rossi is in 5th place, 0.272s behind Jorge Lorenzo, who takes pole with a time of 1:54.543. Marc Marquez takes second place.
Rossi: Lorenzo deserves penalty
Rossi says that Lorenzo deserves a penalty for blocking him during qualifying. Rossi had started a flying lap, found Lorenzo – who had just exited pitlane – at Turn 1. Rossi and Lorenzo exchanged hand signals, and appeared to continue the exchange after the chequered flag, while preparing for practice starts. Rossi:
He exited from the pit without looking at the track and when he arrived at the first corner, he tried to slow down but he was on the line…The problem is that I say, ‘why?’, and I expect, ‘sorry’, but he say to me like this [with hand motion], ‘what the f-ck do you want?’ The problem is that this situation happened exactly the same in Misano qualifying when I did the same mistake. He was very angry with me after that practice and at the end they gave me one [penalty] point. They don’t give him one point. I don’t know why.
Lorenzo:
In my opinion, he has no reason to complain, Everybody knows that when you exit the pits, you cannot stop to let them past because there was some riders entering the first corner and you are already in the corner. All you can do is try to stay in the white line. This is what I did, I could not be in the air, or in the gravel. What can I do? If he is still angry with me, I don’t know the reason.
Qatar GP: 4th place
0 CommentsRossi takes 4th place in the Qatar MotoGP at Losail Circuit, trailing Jorge Lorenzo, Andrea Dovizioso, and Marc Marquez.
Surprised at fast pace
Rossi, says he was surprised how fast the Qatar Gp was. Teammate Jorge Lorenzo completed the race seven seconds faster than Rossi’s 2016 win.
It was a very fast race, faster than last year, which nobody expected. Michelin did a very good job, and also the electronics are good. We expected more difference, to struggle more. But already with three [pre-season] tests, all of the manufacturers improved a lot…I was hoping for some more fights, but maybe it was better last year, more overtaking. This year was more one behind the other…It’s better to arrive fourth, two seconds from first, than arrive second or third, 10 seconds behind. I was strong, but not enough to try one attack, for one sector, one braking. They beat us, we are behind, but anyway we are strong.
Yamaha accelerated Rossi’s contract decision
Despite Rossi saying that he would wait “five or six races to decide” about a two-year contract extension with Yamaha beyond 2016, the timing was changed by team-mate Jorge Lorenzo’s goal of having a new deal secured before the first race. Rossi signed in Doha. Rossi:
I thought in my mind to wait some races, I want to see if I am competitive. Also because usually it is like this, you decide around June. I spoke with Yamaha after the test and they said to me that they are very happy if I continue. In my mind I wanted to continue. The contract more or less was already ready. They said to me, ‘why wait?’ and I said, ‘I agree’, so we did it.
Yamaha’s Jarvis:
I think his expectation and our expectation is most likely this will be the last contract in MotoGP, I guess. But never say never, as we have learned from his career up until today.
‘We will have to do better’
Rossi comments on the upcoming Argentina MotoGP.
I am very happy to go to Argentina. In this place I have many fans and it’s always nice to feel the affection and passion of these people. I have great memories here. Last year it was a great race. It will be difficult to repeat the same result but we will try. In Qatar I was not able to go on the podium but it was a good race anyway. We worked well throughout the weekend. In Argentina we will have to do the same thing, but we’ll have to do better in the race and try to get on the podium. I really like the Termas track and we will try our best!
Comments on Qatar booing
After Lorenzo and Marquez were booed on the podium at Qatar, Marquez says he is prepared to encounter more negativity.
It’s something that, for example, in soccer I heard and I don’t like. So I don’t like it in MotoGP, also if it’s against me. But in the end it’s something that, I’m not stupid, I know that it will be usual. We must adapt and for me the most important thing, is it doesn’t matter the [supporter merchandise] colour of the fans – if it’s yellow, black, red – I think everybody enjoyed the race in Qatar.
Lorenzo says he is confused by the reaction:
We didn’t do anything wrong during the last months. We just concentrated on going very fast. I won the championship, Marc tried to do [his best] in 2015 and he is starting this season also like me – to try to be professional and to try to be the best on the track.We are risking our life in the process. So I don’t know what we did wrong, just be very fast and beat some riders.
Rossi:
Boo? I don’t know. I don’t know.
Argentina Friday practice: 7th place
Rossi comes 7th in Friday Practice at the Termas de Rio Hondo Circuit in Argentina. Marc Marquez led the pack. Rossi:
Difficult day for everybody because these were challenging conditions. The track was very dirty and in the afternoon it became better, but it remained very slippery and also the temperature was very high so it was difficult to maintain the pace lap by lap. It looks like we suffered a bit with the lack of grip on the track, we slide and also the front tire was not very good. We need to work, so from this moment we need to improve the setting step by step and hope the track will become better and that the weather conditions will become more cold but not wet.
Second place on grid, after Marquez
After qualification, Rossi will start the MotoGP in second place, 0.375 seconds behind Marc Marquez.
Last year in Qatar and also here in Argentina the qualifying was bad, but on the other side the races were fantastic. Now we have done a good qualifying, but the race will be tomorrow. Anyway I‘m quite happy because we worked well on the bike and also the track improved a lot today, we can push more and also have a good pace. I think battling with Marquez will be hard because he is faster, but I‘m not so bad and the most important thing is to fight for the podium and make it a good race.
Due to a failure on Scott Redding’s tire, Michelin has decided to withdraw both rear tyres on safety grounds, and introduce the extra “special” rear compound brought for such an occasion. Each rider will have four of these rear tyres for Sunday.
This new allocation changes the situation a lot, because I thought they would pull the soft tyre and we could race with the harder option, but unfortunately we have to race with a tyre that we never tried before. With this decision we have to start from zero, so we have to hope that tomorrow morning in the half hour warm-up we can understand the situation and that this tyre is safer. Everybody is in the same boat, so we will see what happens tomorrow.
Argentina GP: Second place
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Rossi comes second in the Argentinian GP, behind Marc Marquez. Rossi followed Marquez for the first half of the 20-lap race, but after the pit stop Rossi fell seven seconds behind Marquez. He is then overtaken by Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone of Ducati. On the final lap, the Ducati riders crashed, leaving Rossi in second.
With the second bike I never felt the same.
Second set of tyres ‘did not feel good’
Rossi says the decision to change the bikes mid-race was not in his favor.
For me, personally, no. Because we can make all of the race without any problem. We can do 25 laps. But for safety reasons it is OK like this. In the first part I was a lot stronger, a lot more competitive. I thought that I could do a very good fight to try to win. It’s also a shame because, essentially, during the weekend with Yamaha, we never had problems with the tyres. So for the problem of another bike we needed to change everything when we don’t suffer. For some reason with the second bike, especially with the second set of tyres, I didn’t feel good. I had a lot more problems to have the same pace.
Valentino Rossi: The Game designer interview
0 CommentsThe designer of Valentino Rossi: The Game talks about the game, which is focussed on Rossi, and includes MotoGP racing, rallying and drifting, and flat track racing on race courses and at Rossi’s ranch. The MotoGP bikes will feature an updated handling model, with more responsive handling.
We wanted to make something completely new this year. Only one person in the world can help us make a better MotoGP game – Valentino Rossi. When we got in touch with him, we discovered he wanted to make a game about himself, and the game was born.
‘Not strong in last laps, need to improve bike’
Rossi talks about the Austin GP. He is currently second in the championship standings.
I am happy to return to Texas and to race at CoTA. We have to work hard in Austin because it’s crucial to understand quickly how bike, tyres, electronics and this track work together. Furthermore in the last laps of the race I’m not very strong so we need to improve with the bike on these tyres. Historically it is a difficult circuit for us and for Yamaha, but last year I could arrive on the podium so I will try also this year.
Rossi: Lorenzo Joining Ducati ‘a bold choice’
When asked about speculation that Yamaha teammate Lorenzo will move to Ducati, Rossi says:
If he did, it was a bold choice. I [would] wish him luck, and also Ducati. I think he can still be competitive, because Lorenzo is a strong rider and now also the Ducati is a competitive bike. The situation Lorenzo finds himself in today is quite similar to mine at the time I did it [moved to Ducati]. I had been at Yamaha many years and I needed a new challenge. At the time I spoke with [former Ducati boss] Filippo Preziosi, who presented to me an interesting project to improve the Ducati – which had already won with [Casey] Stoner – and try to make it easier to ride for other riders. Ducati has made a lot of progress these last few years. The bike is very competitive, it’s very quick in a straight line. In the first two races of the year, they’ve shown they can be at the front.
Lorenzo:
I cannot tell you anything more than I told you in Argentina.
Calls on Ducati to fix tyre problems
Rossi says Ducati to fix tyre problems, after problems in Argentina resulted in a shorter race, with a bike change.
For me it’s two [factors] together. It’s taller riders that are a little bit more heavy, like Baz and Redding. I’m also quite tall. But especially it is the taller rider and the [type of] bike. Because all through the winter tests and the races in Qatar and Argentina, with the Yamaha, we never have [tyre] problems. So last week we were ready to race, to make the 25 laps. About our feeling on the bike and data about the tyre temperature – we don’t have any problems, fortunately. So I hope that also the other bikes, in this case the Ducati, can fix the problem. Because if not also all the other manufacturers have to race with the very hard, hard, hard tyre. And I think that is not good for the show, it is not good for the performance. So I think they have to fix the problem.
Michelin state that the Baz incident was a puncture. Three front tyres (soft, medium and hard) will be available for the CoTA race rather than the usual two options. The rear tyre choice will be soft or medium, both asymmetrical, with a harder right-hand-side.
Austin Free practice: 6th place
Rossi sets a time of 2’06.25, ending Free Practice 1 in seventh place. He improves in Free Practice 2 to 2’04.974, 1.3 seconds faster than his morning time, ending the sessions in sixth place overall, 0.940s behind leader Marc Marquez, and 0.073s behind teammate Jorge Lorenzo.
The second session was not so bad. I was quite fast from the beginning and we tried something on the bike in the last run, but unfortunately I made two mistakes and I was not able to do a good lap. If I hadn‘t made the mistakes, I would have been able to stay closer to the front. I had quite a good potential because I‘m quite fast everywhere, but unfortunately we suffer a little bit too much in braking so we need to work to try to improve this part, because it‘s very easy to make mistakes. We need to understand the tyres. We have to wait for the hard rear that arrives tomorrow. Our decision on the front tyre is also still very open, we have three tyres to choose from. It will be difficult and I think the tyres will make the difference and will be key for the race.
Rossi would welcome Vinales as teammate
Rossi says he has “no problems” with Vinales becoming his new Yamaha team-mate next season as Jorge Lorenzo nears closer to a Ducati move.
For me, no problem. It’s not a big difference if Lorenzo remain, or Vinales come, or also [Andrea] Iannone, or also [Dani] Pedrosa. It’s true for sure that with Vinales will be very hard, because he is very young, and he has a good talent, and I think that he will become one of the top riders of MotoGP very soon. I think that Vinales demonstrated today that he can stay with the top guys for all the season (Vinales was third in Free Practice)…I think he rides so well, he’s a clever rider, and he understands the way to use the MotoGP. So I think him together with his bike, they are growing up a lot.
Rossi: Marquez dangerous, ‘plays tactics’ with bike
Rossi says he no longer buys his rival’s claims of weakness.
I always considered he was very dangerous. The Honda seems very good to me. According to me, when he talks about difficulties [with the bike], Marquez plays a bit of tactics, he feathers his own nest, but he knows very well that this is a very strong bike…It’s true also that he looks much faster than [Dani] Pedrosa, especially here [in Austin]. This means he’s comfortable and he will be hard to beat.
Third place on grid
Rossi will start the Americas GP in third position, 0.387s behind Jorge Lorenzo and 0.456s back on Marc Marquez, in pole position. Rossi uses winglets on his bike, one of the first times he has used them to achieve a fast lap. This is Rossi’s first back-to-back front row starts since the Malaysian and Australian GPs in 2013.
This result is crucial for the race tomorrow and it‘s also a good result for the work that we‘ve done today, from this morning we‘ve improved the bike a lot and this afternoon in the free practice with the race tyre I was quite strong. I started qualifying quite confident and I did some good laps. The front row is always a very good target especially when I have to fight with Marquez and Lorenzo when they are quite strong.