Talks about first podium in Austria

Rossi talks about the Austrian GP track at Spielberg, where he had his first podium on the international finish, in 1997, as a 17-year-old.

It is a wonderful memory, my first podium was great and I could not have imagined what followed it. The track is similar to 20 years ago, when I raced with the 125, but the asphalt is new and has very good grip, it is very flat with no bounce. The track is so fast. I think it’s different to the other ones because you stay on the throttle for a lot of time, so maybe it will create a different kind of race.

On his challenges in the remaining season:

The gap of 59 points is hard to make back. In the last few races we have lost many points but we have to be strong and have the concentration to always get on the podium. The distance [to Marquez] is almost irretrievable. I will concentrate on these nine races and try to make more points than in the first half. We are starting an important moment of the season, because we have four races in five weeks and also five races in seven weeks. It’s good, because after Barcelona we had a long stop from one race to the other. That is not fantastic, and after the summer break I prefer it like this.