Second in Warm Up
0 0 Mark Devlin Mark Devlin2016-04-24 04:46:042016-04-24 04:46:04Second in Warm UpLorenzo claims Rossi doesn’t feel benefit of winglets
Lorenzo says he can feel a difference using aerodynamic winglets on his Yamaha MotoGP bike, unlike his teammate Rossi, who has called them “ugly”. Lorenzo:
This year they are a little bit bigger, in a different position from last year. They don’t make such a big difference, obviously they give you a little bit less wheelie on the exit of the corners. But on the negative side you have less speed on the straight. We have to analyse every situation if we can ride with it or without it. For the moment I prefer, but let’s see what happens in the future. I feel some benefits that, for example, my teammate is not feeling.
Rossi:
I will continue with the wings that give us more help. I know all the manufacturers try to speak to decide whether to continue with the wings or not. I’m open to everything. But sincerely speaking, it’s better for me that we don’t have the wings.
Valentino Rossi The Game – Missano trailer
Milestone releases a trailer for Valentino Rossi – The Game. The Misano trailer shows off a range of game modes available on the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli track. Designer:
Misano represents the Italian Speed Temple and the Hometown of Valentino Rossi. Since the beginning of his career Valentino Rossi trained himself on all these disciplines like Flat Track, R1M, Drift, Rally and MotoGP to became the champion.
Takes Jerez pole position
Rossi takes his first pole position in almost a year, his 62nd pole in his career, and first at Jerez since 2005, on his final lap of Saturday’s qualifying session in Spain. Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez had held the provisional pole, with Marquez threatening to take the pole on his last lap. That confirmed Rossi’s 62nd pole by 0.122s from Lorenzo, with Marquez 0.155s behind to complete a mouth-watering front row.
We work a lot because last year we struggled too much in qualifying. This year with Michelin I feel better. I already start on the front row twice this year, but a pole position is different – especially here at Jerez. For sure tomorrow will be very hard with Lorenzo and Marquez. But we are there. We can fight.
Spain Friday Free Practice: 3rd, 5th place
0 CommentsIn the first session, Rossi completes 21 laps of free practice, the second most laps of any rider, ending the session in third place 0.406s behind leader Jorge Lorenzo. Hector Barbera (Avintia Racing) places second. In the second session Rossi places fifth after 20 laps and a 0.727s gap with Lorenzo, who leads the practice again.
I always try to work on the first laps because it’s very important, the top riders are very strong from the beginning, especially [Jorge] Lorenzo. I feel good with the bike. Last year I was more in trouble for finding the right balance. It looks like this year we work well with the team and we can be strong from the beginning. This is very important, but anyway it’s more important to be strong on Sunday.
Says Lorenzo will be competitive at Ducati
Rossi says that Lorenzo will be competitive at Ducati. The manufacturer has been steadily improving its MotoGP efforts but has not had a race win since Casey Stoner won the 2010 Australian Grand Prix. Rossi:
When I arrived at Ducati, the bike was very different compared to all the other bikes. It was another concept. It is a different moment in terms of time because I’m older but it’s similar in terms of moment in our careers. It looks like that the Ducati in the last two years has improved a lot and is a competitive bike, it’s for sure very different to Yamaha. I know the skills of Lorenzo to ride and I think that he will be competitive with Ducati.
Denies being the influence for Lorenzo leaving Yamaha
Rossi says he is not the reason Lorenzo is leaving Yamaha for Ducati. When asked if Lorenzo “could not stand” being his teammate any more.
The great thing about the Yamaha management and all the guys that make decisions for the team, is that they are able to manage two top riders, because they always keep us at the same level,” said the Italian. Already in 2008, when I had been at Yamaha for four years, Lorenzo arrived straight away exactly at my level. But this happened also the other way, when I come back in 2013 [after two seasons with Ducati] when Lorenzo was champion, Yamaha put me at the same level. Always in Yamaha it’s 50/50, which is the key to make the team work. So I don’t think it’s for this reason.
Marquez denies Yamaha move
Speaking in Jerez, Marquez confirms that Ducati had made him an approach, but denied being in the running to replace Jorge Lorenzo as Rossi’s teammate.
I had a call from Ducati. Yamaha has done in the past, but not this time. Already Lin [Jarvis, team boss] said it wouldn’t be possible. I started talking with Honda [about a new contract] in Austin and I have always said they are my priority. They were the ones to give me the opportunity to join MotoGP, and there is no logic in changing.
Asked about the prospect of being paired up with Marquez, Rossi says:
It would be interesting to see Marquez at Yamaha, and he would be a very tough teammate to beat. It’s hard enough to share a box with Lorenzo. I can only say that I will do my best to beat my teammate, whoever it is.
Jerez podium ‘a must’
Rossi says a podium finish at Jerez is a must.
I am very happy that now we go to Europe. The race in Texas was not very lucky for me, but even after a race like that we have to look at the positive side. We were having a very good weekend when we improved in qualifying and I felt very good on the bike and also with the Michelins. Austin has always been a very difficult track for me, but this year it was good. Now we go to Jerez, a track that I like very much. It’s very different from the first three rounds of the championship. We’ll have to work well, like we have done in these first races, finding the best setting for the tyres, continue working on the Michelins, and above all we must try to get onto the podium on Sunday.
Lorenzo signs with Ducati
Lorenzo will leave Yamaha at the end of the 2016 MotoGP season, and will move to Ducati on a two-year contract. It is reported that his deal could be worth as much as £15m-per-year. Ducati:
Ducati announces that it has reached an agreement with Jorge Lorenzo whereby the Spaniard will compete in the MotoGP World Championship in 2017 and 2018 on the Ducati Desmosedici GP Ducati Team.
Yamaha:
Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. announces that its partnership with Jorge Lorenzo will be discontinued at the close of the 2016 MotoGP season, when Lorenzo will move on to new racing challenges. Since Lorenzo joined the Yamaha Factory Racing Team in 2008, Lorenzo and Yamaha won three MotoGP World Championships (2010, 2012 and 2015), clinched 41 race wins and have been on the podium 99 times out of 141 races contested. Yamaha is extremely grateful for Jorge’s contributions to its racing successes and looks forward to sharing more memorable moments during the remaining 15 MotoGP rounds of 2016, their ninth season together.
Valentino Rossi: The Game trailer
Milestone releases a trailer for Valentino Rossi: The Game. The MotoRanch is a virtual Flat Track training field for Rossi and the VR46 Riders Academy.
VR46 Civil War trailer
Rossi appears in a promotional tie-up with Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War. Rossi’s riders at the VR46 Riders’ Academy will battle in two teams representing the opposing sides in Captain America: Civil War. The riders , split into #TeamCap and #TeamIronMan, wear helmets that match the two Avengers’ colors, and will complete a series of challenges on the dirt track of Vale’s MotoRanch in his hometown of Tavullia, Italy. Five episodes will be released during this week.
Says Michelins demand more concentration
Rossi says Yamaha and Michelin should work to improve his bike’s situation, but the only way he can avoid more crashes is to ride more precisely.
I think I have no solution. I think that the tyre will remain like this, and I think Michelin can work, for sure, but especially we have to work on the bikes to improve them. Try to make a better match with these tyres. But especially not try to make any mistakes. For sure, the situation is different for us [than to Honda] on these tyres. Last year, the Bridgestone maybe had some other problems, but are very safe on the front. This year, if you make a small mistake, you pay. In that corner I entered with the same speed, there are two bumps, and maybe I was more inside, maybe I lost concentration, maybe I wanted more, and I lost the front.
Americas GP: Crashes in second lap
Rossi crashes out in the second lap of the Americas GP. At the time he is in fifth place. He has no injuries and returns to the pit lane. Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso all crash out of the race. Marc Marquez wins the race.
The Michelin tyres have good performance, are good to ride and I like. The problem is you can’t make a mistake…if you make a small mistake, you pay. Because at that corner I entered at the same speed, but have two bumps – maybe I was more inside and I lose the front. So you have to concentrate, be precise and try not to make any mistake in the race. When I understand [what had happened] already the bike was 30 metres or more in front of me! It’s a shame because we lost some points in the championship and also because we could make a good race. The positive side is that we are strong and very fast, so we will be ready for Jerez.
Places third in warm up
Rossi places third in Austin warm up, 0.33s behind Andrea Iannone. Marc Marquez is second.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.