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In this last GPOnecar of the year we brought along Matteo Flamigni, Valentino Rossi's historic data technician, to the circuit in Valencia. Matteo will follow him in the newly-created VR46 team as Marco Bezzecchi's crew chief. We talked with him about the future, but also about the last version of Valentino Rossi, the one who is struggling to score points. And how he arrived at the decision to quit.
"We realized that Rossi was in difficulty and maybe that's why he then decided to retire. But if you think about it, he still picks up minimal gaps today, he was 10th at Misano and he went well in Portimao too. It's just that the level in MotoGP is very high and it’s enough to lose a tenth and you are behind. "
Matteo can compare Rossi's performance with that of other Yamaha riders by looking at the telemetry data.
"Depending on the rider I compare with, different elements emerge. In this moment, for example, Quartararo brakes very hard and we lose there, with Morbidelli we lose in cornering speed, but these are minimal details that added up over the course of the race make the difference. ".
A crude analysis, to which Flamigni however adds an important consideration…
"Right now we suffer more in the flying lap than during the race, starting from the second or third row Valentino would be able to express himself in the race, as he has always done".
However, Matteo Flamigni refutes the fact that after nine world titles the Pesaro rider has 'given up'.
"Absolutely not. Vale hasn’t given up, on the contrary he is always very motivated in everything he does, even in these last few races. An anecdote: we were dismantling the garage in Portimao, and he introduced himself, as he always does and he said: we need to look at something in that curve, let's look at it more carefully, so if it happens again, we know what to do ... I was moved, I confess, they sounded like the words of a rider who had to run another ten years ... " .
But what is stopping Valentino, then?
"Sometimes all you need is a corner entry to leave you with the feeling of the front tucking in. This gives you a feeling of uncertainty that you immediately forget at the beginning of your career, while at the end of your career you carry it around with you for six or seven corners."
From Monday Rossi will be a car driver. but are we really convinced? Matteo Flamigni thinks not. Not entirely, at least.
"Knowing him, I believe he’ll have a ride on the Ducati, if only for the curiosity of trying a bike other than the Yamaha".
Matteo, who worked on the Ducati in 2011-2012 is also curious to see some things...
"Yes, I'm curious to understand how different it is from the Ducati on which I worked with Vale. Another anecdote: Alex Briggs, one of Mick Doohan's long-timeAustralian mechanics, when he found himself in the garage reassembling it for the first time, told me: Matteo, with the pieces of this bike you can make two! Those were the times, it must be remembered, when the Desmosedici did not have the frame, so there were many pieces to anchor the engine that served as a supporting structure ".
Watch the entire interview on our YouTube channel or by clicking on the image above.
