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It was a perfect race until a few turns from the end, until a mistake braking opened the door to Viñales and then a crash ended it just a few hundred yards from the finish line. The French GP ended for Valentino astride his bike, engine off and Viñales and Zarco celebrating on the podium.
“It is a real shame” was Rossi’s bitter observation, expected but no less sincere. At Le Mans he had set up the win for 27 laps and in just a few seconds he saw it disappear before his very eyes.
“For me and for the team, this was the best weekend of the season. I was competitive both in the dry and in the wet, but especially in the race. It was extremely difficult and the pace was very high, but I felt good. I could attack” he recounts.
Then what happened?
“I made a mistake on turn 6. I went in just barely too fast, maybe one kph, but it was enough to send me long.”
And Viñales passed you…
“Yes, but I knew that I still had a chance to respond. I was fast and especially in the last sector of the track. Then I’m not really sure what happened, not even looking at the telemetry. I lost the rear. It didn’t feel like I was at the limit, but the way I see it, when you hit the ground you have made a mistake. The biggest mistake was the first one; the second and the crash were a consequence.”
At a high price…
“It’s a pity to go home with a zero, both for the win and for the championship. It was still a weekend that went very well, important for the upcoming races. I had never ridden so well on this bike.”
Do you think you went too far?
“It was a perfect race. I smelled the scent of victory up to six turns from the end. I was not even able to restart the engine, or I could have at least brought home some points.”
Jovanotti Tweeted that you are like that: you don’t want to come in second if you can be first.
“My thanks to him (he smiles). There are days when you feel that you can win and you have to try for it, otherwise you will not be at peace with yourself. Today I had a go. As I said, I have never ridden so well with this bike and I hope to do it again in the upcoming races.”
Is that some consolation?
“The race ends at 2:45. Doing well all weekend does not matter if you then make a mistake 3 turns from the end. That is sport.”
Did you have everything under control right up to that moment?
“Around the middle of the race I felt a lot of movement at the front and I tried to ride more relaxed, but in the final laps the situation had improved. It was a nice surprise to be able to lap at 1’32”6.”
In the penultimate lap, Viñales cut a chicane. Did that episode have any impact on you?
“I did not realize it at the moment, but that move allowed him to get closer. If he had finished with an advantage of 4 tenths of a second instead of one, maybe it would have ended differently. But that is not what made the difference.”
Zarco was impressive again too…
“He was very fast. He is a true rival.”
The next race will be at Mugello, better to look ahead.
“If I had won I would have gone there more pumped up, but let’s say that after this defeat I’ll be more pumped up anyway (he laughs).”
