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“There's a very fine line between being a hero or a failure in these cases”, Valentino can be pleased that he came out on the right side at Brno. He needed this podium, for the points and for morale, after several races in which he'd worked hard to sow but without reaping the rewards.
A holy track for him - where he won his first race 20 years ago - didn't let him down, though through the first laps it was looking as if the hard rear tyre might have been the wrong choice. “It was a nightmare - he says - I told myself, I've made a mistake again”.
Everyone was passing you, what were you thinking through those laps?
“I hadn't tried the hard tyre and didn't expect it to be so different to the soft. In the moment, you think, but where am I going? You have to stay calm. Throughout my career I've often found myself in similar situations and I like that. As Cal said, the fact I could see the front group, with no-one really getting away, was positive”.
And then it all turned out well…
“When Cal passed me and I saw how fast he was, I thought that I would have an advantage in the final laps and that turned out to be true. I enjoyed making all those passes”.
Why did you take such a risk?
“First of all, I thought it would be a race with a bike change and then in warm-up the Yamahas were suffering a lot with the soft tyre. I had the feeling that if I started with that tyre, I wouldn't be able to do more than 4 or 5 laps, I wouldn't have even reached the hypothetical bike change. My Michelin technician was worried too”.
Why didn't you go with the hard solution also at the front?
“I already had problems with the soft, I wasn't as brave as Cal. To protect it, I rode like I was on a feather bed, I knew I couldn't push too much on the front”.
You didn't think about the win?
“When Crutchlow passed me and I tried to stick with him, but I'd have had to take too much of a risk”.
It seems like risk-taking is paying off this year…
“In Qatar Lorenzo put in the soft tyre, against Michelin's recommendations, and won, the same for Iannone last week. We all need more experience with these tyres, but with the Bridgestones it was all more scientific while with the Michelins it's more about interpretation or... luck, depending on what we want to call it (he laughs)”.
How important is this podium?
“I hadn't been on it since June, when I won at Barcelona. There have been races I could have won but we've either made mistakes or been unlucky, I've lost a lot of points. It was starting to get me down, now I'm happier”.
Also in terms of the championship?
“These are 20 important points, which have moved me up into second place in the championship”.
Lorenzo struggled today too…
“In the past he's been competitive in the wet, but this year he's struggling. I don't know what happened to him today”.
And Marquez?
“He has a lead of more than 50 points, I've lost too many and it's hard to catch him now. Marc isn't just fast, but he's making all the right choices and never makes a mistake. Having said that, we cannot give up and have to continue to give it our all, the numbers only matter at the end”.
What's your strategy?
“I'm pleased when I reach the podium and will continue to race in this way. The battle with Lorenzo is still very much open and today's points are very important, I know how fast he is and want to fight all the way to the end, even if only for second place. It would have been great to win today, after 20 years, but this was also a good result, I think I deserve to be able to fight on an even playing field with him, after having lost 25 points with the engine failure at Mugello”.
Is this an important step?
“I needed this podium, I view the races from Austria to Misano as a single series in which we have the chance to keep a hold on our place”.
