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MotoGP, Rossi: The Championship? First let's solve the problems

"It is not smart to think about the title when you finish 7th. We stress the rear tyre too much. After 12 laps I couldn't ride anymore"

MotoGP: Rossi: The Championship? First let's solve the problems

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If this is not a crisis for Yamaha, it is very close to being one. Viñales and Rossi not only finished far behind Ducati and Honda, but even behind the old M1 Zarco rides. A Grand Prix to forget at the Red Bull Ring and more points lost to Dovizioso and Marquez. It could not have gone any worse and Valentino knows it.

It was a difficult race both for me and for Maverick. We thought we were faster, but things went differently”, he admits.

Did you get something wrong?
I have no regrets. If we were to start over in an hour, I’d use the same tyres and the same setup. The hard on the rear was the right option for me and, in fact, in the first 10 laps I was fast, like I was in FP4.

And then?
After 12 or 13 laps tyre performance dropped a lot. The bike became hard to ride and in the finale I was in real trouble. We stress the rear tyre too much, that is the main problem we need to work on.”

That is nothing new…
No, it has happened other times whereas in other Grand Prix races we suffered less. When it happens, things go like they did today. I felt good in the first 10 laps. I did the second fastest lap of the race after Zarco. I was pushing but I was optimistic. Johann and the two Ducatis had the soft tyre on and I thought they would have a drop in performance. I thought I’d be able to battle for the podium.

Why wasn’t the soft an option for you?
Zarco is able to use it because he has a smooth riding style and he is lighter, whereas Maverick and I are more aggressive. Dovi is similar to us in riding, but the Ducati stresses the tyres less.”

Continuing to speak of Zarco…
He is happy. He beats the factory riders and laughs, but we are not satisfied finishing fifth. Our goal is not to finish ahead of him, but to battle with the best. I did half the race with Honda and Ducati and the other half with the Yamahas. I could see that we are suffering a lot.

Performance in the race finale was a weak point last year as well. Did the new frame not solve the problem?
The new frame solved the problem with understeering. If we look at the Jerez and Barcelona races, we were never fast, whereas today we were for the first part of the race. However, the problem of stressing the tyre is still here.”

How can you solve it?
As I said, I don’t know which move we could have made differently for the setup. It seems like there is work to be done both on the mechanical and electronic side, so the upgrades should arrive from Japan.”

You mentioned the two Spanish races. Were they worse than this one?
We had done worse on those tracks, but we expected it, whereas here we thought we would be able to stay with the best until the end. Today we wore the tyre more than last year.”

Now Marquez is at +33 points…
The championship is difficult both because of the gap in the standings and also because we are struggling, whereas Honda is the bike that has taken the biggest step forward. In any case, it is not smart to think about winning the Championship when you finish 7th. First, you need to focus on being competitive.”

Could Silverstone be the last chance?
Who knows? It has a layout that is closer to Brno and in theory we should be more competitive.

Translated by Jonathan Blosser
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