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After a complicated day in Valencia, Valentino had some kind words for Dovizioso, who is called to face an almost impossible undertaking against Marquez. He spoke as a rider, but also as a teacher in his Riders Academy where he raises up very young riders.
“Andrea’s story is a nice one - he said - In his career he has gone through a lot of difficult times, especially in MotoGP, and everyone should learn from him. He never gave up and he continued believing in himself. He hadn’t won a MotoGP race in 10 years and now he has won 6 in a single season. In every sport people want everything and they want it straight away; there is always a big rush, but you need to understand that every person needs their own time.”
The Doctor did not talk only about Dovi, but also about the very young and talented Mir who could tie his record of 11 wins in one year in the cadet class on Sunday.
“When you win so often it is never by chance and I am happy if he ties my record, which has stood since 1997. Many years have passed, but I remember that I had a lot of fun that year - he smiled - Mir is very strong and if he manages to achieve that record, I hope it brings him good luck like it did for me.”
20 years have passed, but Rossi is still on the track and yesterday, no sooner did he say that he didn’t want to talk about his future, that today his father Graziano made a statement on a radio show saying that Valentino will race for another 10 years.
“I’m happy - the Doctor said - A lot of people, beginning with him and my mother Stefania, tell me not to quit and I will take their advice into consideration when the time comes to make the decision. I see 10 more years of racing as a bit difficult. Maybe I will, but certainly not in MotoGP.”
However, now his mind is focused on the GP of Valencia which, given the way it started, promises to be very complicated.
“In the morning I was very slow. I didn’t feel good and I did not even put on the new tyre at the end of the session, preferring to concentrate on race strategy - he explained - In the afternoon I didn’t do anything fantastic, but I improved my feelings even if there is still a lot of work to do and it will not be a simple weekend.”
This does not mean that Rossi is counting down the hours, waiting for Sunday evening and the end of a 2017 season that returned less satisfaction than expected.
“If you start off thinking like that, everything becomes even more difficult - he pointed out - You need to believe all the way to the chequered flag and the last outing in FP2 encouraged me a bit. I turned some good laps using the medium tyre. The problem is that the temperatures are low, so we need to use very hard tyres and it creates problems for us.”
And his rivals are a step ahead.
“I think it will be hard to beat the two Hondas and the two factory Ducatis. Marquez and Pedrosa seem to be working in another occupation and Zarco is also fast - he warned - My biggest problem at the moment is braking. Also, as often happens, after a few laps I struggle with the rear tyre. Tomorrow the first goal is to go through to Q2 and then we’ll see.”
