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To find worse qualifiers than today you have to go back to the 2011 Aragón GP, when Valentino started from the 17th spot on the grid. Tomorrow, he will start just two positions farther forward and that, perhaps, is not the worst news. Because Rossi - and he is the first to admit it - was never in the game today at Phillip Island: mistakes, low confidence, in short, a day to forget. “I was slow” he sums up, without beating around the bush.
What happened?
“I would define it as a very difficult day, where I struggled a lot and I was never strong. It also happened in the wet, and frankly I did not expect it.”
You had done well yesterday with the water...
“But today the conditions were different and nothing worked. We also made the wrong tyre choice, but that was not the most important thing.”
What was it then?
“I was slow. I even took some risks but I continued to be slow. It was frustrating because I was unable to ride at the limit.”
The result was 15th place…
“It will be a problem, but the biggest problem is that I don’t know what pace I will be able to maintain, nor do I know my potential or whether I will be able to go faster. Right now, all I can do is wait.”
For the Yamahas it was a disastrous day. How do you explain that?
“I knew that we would struggle, but this is too much. I had big problems with the front tyre. I could not get it up to temp. Lorenzo also had problems, but Pol Espargarò is on the front row. We need to understand from that result which direction to go.”
The strategy in qualifying was also not the best…
“After FP4 I thought I was fast in the wet, but the temperature was 8°C for the qualifiers. The plan was not to stop for the entire session, but the asphalt dried out quickly. I came back to pit lane hoping that the second bike would be ready with the intermediate tyres, but they were not alert enough in the garage. It was another mistake.”
At this point, what do you expect for tomorrow?
“I would like to manage to ride well, be faster and ride a good race. That’s all.”
As you said yesterday, coming to Phillip Island at this time of year is not the best idea…
“And the start is also delayed two hours because of the live coverage in Europe. That makes it dangerous. Just look at how many crashes there were during the Moto2 qualifiers. We can only hope for warm weather.”
Can’t you riders form a united front to demand a change?
“I don’t know. In past years I said several times that racing at 4 in the afternoon is a problem, but nothing changed.”
