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A spot on the fifth row is a heavy burden to carry on his shoulders for the Barcelona race. Valentino has broad shoulders and he will have to demonstrate that he also has plenty of stamina to consider a comeback ride which, having a look at his pace in FP4, doesn’t seem impossible, after all.
There is hope, but there is also the harsh reality of the 13th place time: “I am a bit sad. I expected to struggle less. Yesterday was not a fantastic day, but the sensations were good” he says broodingly.
So, what happened today?
“From the morning I noticed that the asphalt had less grip. Usually the opposite is true because as the track rubberizes it improves and no one expected this. We had a lot of problems with the tyres. We can’t get them to work right. No matter which ones we use, we do not have the right choice for us.”
Are you worried for the race?
“Starting 13th complicates everything and we don’t even have a fantastic pace, but we have a few ideas for the warm up.”
Dovizioso said that he would not be surprised to see you on the podium…
“As I said, my pace is not fantastic, but it is also true that, besides Pedrosa, there are a lot of riders with a similar pace. The problem is the rear tyre: with the medium I do 6 laps well and then I have to slow down. With the hard I am never fast. I need to decide whether to be slow after a few laps or for the whole race (he laughs).”
Last year at Phillip Island you started 15th and finished on the podium…
“It will be more difficult here. In Australia I had made the wrong tyre choice in qualifying with a damp track but I had good potential in practice.”
Is the situation that critical?
“There were a lot of crashes today. The asphalt has no grip and when the temperatures go up, everything becomes even more difficult. It is complicated to ride like this. It’s a nightmare because you can’t be natural. Every time you go into a corner you feel like you’re at the limit.”
Will you be riding on eggshells tomorrow?
“I definitely will. I don’t know about the others – we’ll see.”
Last year when there was poor grip, you came along and made the difference…
“The bike has changed and the 2016 M1 was easier to ride at the limit in poor grip conditions.”
Do the new Michelins play a role in it as well?
“In this case, I think the asphalt is mainly to blame. This year I am really struggling to understand the difference in performance between one race and the next. Take the last 3 races: at Le Mans the Yamaha was fantastic with the tyres, at Mugello they did well and here we are having great difficulty.”
Where would you point the finger?
“It depends on the interpretation you give. The relationship between bike and tyres changes constantly from one track to the next. In France, I could do whatever I wanted and it would all work well. Here the exact opposite is true.”
And the values on the pitch consequently change…
“This is a peculiar championship. No one at Mugello thought Ducati would win and it is strong here too. If last year, with a few problems, you finished 6th or 7th, now you are 15th. It is a much more level playing field. The tests on Monday will be important, even if we will not have anything special to test.”
They changed the chicane. The organizers said that they spent €200 thousand and that you led the revolt…
“The important thing is that they don’t ask me for that money (he laughs). Yesterday in Safety Commission everyone was in agreement. Now it is better for everyone and if I had to do it over, I would do the same thing.”
