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The Japanese weekend started off badly for Valentino end ended even worse: with a crash that fortunately had no physical consequences and with a lot of unanswered doubts. Viñales basically said goodbye to his hopes of the title and Rossi is unable to figure out what is happening, or rather, why it is happening.
Valentino, let’s start from the end.
“This time it was a bad crash on turn 7 – a highside. I was behind Aleix and I was trying not to let up because I was somehow managing to maintain his pace. But on the left-handers I had no grip, as if I was riding on ice. As soon as I opened the throttle, I lost the rear suddenly and by the time I realised it I was already in the air.”
How is the leg you had injured?
“I was lucky because I’m in a bit of pain all over, but the leg was not damaged. This is positive, but for the rest, we struggled throughout the weekend and it was a very difficult race because I had no grip at the rear. We need to understand why.”
How can you do that?
“As always, it is important to give Yamaha all the information. In my opinion, right now the combination of the M1 and the Michelin tyres is giving us problems in all conditions, but especially in the wet. We need to figure out which direction to go and test.”
Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?
“This weekend we rode in the wet the whole time with more water than not on the asphalt and we struggled in every condition.”
What is the cause?
“I don’t know what the solution might be because I don’t know what has caused the problem. It is a strange situation.”
Maybe the tyres need to be changed…
“Compared to last year, it seems to me that the rear tyre carcass is softer. That is my sensation riding, because Michelin says it is not the case, but that is my thought. If you feel something different when you ride, it means that something has changed. They deny that, so we need to figure out what is happening. If these tyres work with Honda and Ducati, then it is our problem.”
By “our”, you mean the 2017 M1?
“Even Zarco with the 2016 bike, which did very well in the wet, had big problems in the last 5 laps and had to slow down 3 or 4 seconds per lap. The tyres do not work on the Yamaha, both new and old. We have our ideas, but we also need to compare notes with Michelin’s ideas and figure out how to make these tyres that are working well on the other bikes work for us.”
Just a few months ago, Viñales seemed to be unbeatable…
“First of all, I think that the others have improved a lot, but we are also in difficulty. Even in the water or with uncertain conditions, our rivals simply need to get the bike on the track to be fast. We need to try to solve this limitation.”
