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Despite many years of career, Valentino Rossi still manages to be amazed at times. He was today when he learned of Dovizioso's decision to leave Ducati at the end of the year.
"I'm surprised - he admitted - I thought they would argue a bit, that there was a tug of war, but that in the end they would find an agreement. From the outside it is always difficult to judge certain things because the whole story is not known on both sides ".
Furthermore, this choice also has great repercussions on the rider market movements…
"It opens up the market a lot, because now one of the best places in MotoGP is free - continued the Doctor – A lot of riders will want to go there and among them is our very own Bagnaia. Unfortunately, he got injured at the worst moment of the season, he could have been very competitive. Then it will be interesting to understand if Dovi will continue to race or not ”.
His thoughts, however, are currently focused on things that concern him much more closely. Like the Red Bull Ring race in which he will start from the fourth row, after 12th place in qualifying.
“I am very disappointed - he said - Everything will be more complicated. I was happy, because in FP4 we made a good improvement, after having found difficult conditions in FP3. Q1 is cursed, always complicated, you have to do a lap close to pole time to get into Q2 ”.
Which you did…
"But I had run out of soft tyres, and with the medium in Q2 I did a very good lap, but then I only improved by a tenth when I mounted the last soft tyre. We'll see what happens tomorrow, I still have to choose the tyres for the race and also the weather forecast is not great. I think we will find out if it will rain or not only at 2 pm, when the race starts ”.
Meanwhile, the Yamahas defended themselves well on a track that on paper promised to be their nemesis…
"On this circuit the engine counts a lot, it's strange to see the M1s so far forward - confessed Valentino - I think that Vinales and Quartararo were very good on the flying lap, but at the moment Pol Espargarò, Dovizioso and the two Suzukis can do better on pace. My pace is good too”.
How good?
"In the dry I will have to try to make up positions, I know it will be difficult here and I will have to take advantage of the braking, I will try - he replied - If it rains, I would not know what to expect. We haven't had a race in the wet for a long time, it seems to me that they are all going very fast, anything could happen ”.
For sure you are going to have a hard time, even more than in the past…
“Last year the other bikes were faster than us on the straight, but they weren't quite right in other areas, such as electronic management - recalled Rossi - The Yamaha was better in other respects and we had a good weekend. Now, however, they all seem more competitive to me”.
