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MotoGP, Rossi: "Yamaha like Inter: it's always a surprise"

Valentino jokes on the improvements in Buriram: "The circuit made the big difference but we don't know why"

MotoGP: Rossi: "Yamaha like Inter: it's always a surprise"

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To speak of a rebirth would be naïve, but the Yamaha was certainly the surprise of the first day of practice in Buriram. In the morning, Viñales and Rossi even led in the standings and then in the afternoon, Maverick confirmed his performance with the 2nd best time while Valentino was 9th, but just 3 tenths from the leader.

“It is always a surprise. Yamaha reminds me of Inter: when they go out on the pitch, you never know what might happen” the Doctor joked with a football metaphor.

What changed compared to Aragón?
Above all, the track. On some we have less grip problems, on others we have more.”

The M1 did not receive any upgrades?
“We made some small changes to improve acceleration and that is doing okay, but this is only a small part toward explaining our improvement. The track did the big part. Why? On paper, Aragón should have been a better track for the M1. Maybe it depends on the asphalt, but to be honest, I have no idea.”

It’s a mystery…
“Depending on the track, the other bikes also do a bit better and a bit worse, but for us it is a huge difference and we don’t know why.”

In any case, these results put you in a good mood…
“Yes, they boost morale. It is always more fun to battle for the best positions, partly because in Aragón it was really a disaster. Here we started well and in FP1, we were even 1st and 2nd with Maverick, also because a lot of top riders hadn’t put on the new tyre.”

It wasn’t a realistic result?
It wasn’t our position, but we are close anyway. We can battle for 4th place. Now a lot will depend on how we work throughout the weekend.”

Viñales confirmed his performance in the afternoon, whereas you took a step backwards. Why?
“I didn’t do a great lap. I could have been faster, but I made some mistakes. However, I am in the top 10 and that is what is important.”

What do you think of the new tyres Michelin brought?
“They are very different from the ones we had used in the tests. Now it is more difficult to ride because they have less grip, but at the same time, they are more consistent and that could help for race pace. We still have a lot to do in order to choose the best ones for us.”

Is the heat a big problem?
“I am in shape this season, but here it is difficult to catch your breath and you struggle. In the race it will be hard, but usually your body adapts to these conditions and improves day after day. Plus, I didn’t sleep much last night because of jet lag.”

What do you think of Lorenzo’s accident?
“I think the Ducati uses the rear brake a lot and when Jorge leaned the bike over, he lost the back end. I don’t think it was a technical problem or the track’s fault, but I could be wrong because I only watched the crash once.” (Subsequent to this interview,  Ducati admitted that it was a technical problem with the Desmosedici that caused the accident - editor's note).

Translated by Jonathan Blosser
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