Last Saturday, the Italian pulled off a great last lap in the decisive qualifying round (Q2) and placed fourth, opening the second row of the grid. A week after that, Rossi will start penultimate, in what is his worst qualifying since competing in MotoGP.
In the race at that time, the Yamaha Petronas rider was losing ground as the laps passed and finally crossed the finish line in twelfth, almost 11 seconds behind Maverick Viñales, the winner. As he commented, the high consumption of the rear tire that conditioned the majority of runners so much was especially fattened with him, who has been suffering especially with that for years.
To try to solve this lack of grip on the rear, the technicians turned the bike around, but the result of the equation was even worse. Thus, everything points to the fact that on Sunday it will be very long for Il Dottore , who in Q1 was seven tenths from the cut that gave access to Q2, and who was 1.7 seconds slower than last Saturday .
“I have no grip under acceleration. My pace is very bad, and with a new tire I can’t go faster. I start very far back and my rhythm is not good”, summed up Rossi , visibly affected by the step back taken.
“At least last week I was fast over one lap. This time we changed some things, electronics and set-up, to try to preserve the tires. And not only did we not improve in consumption, but we also got worse,” added the man from Tavullia, who despite the delicate moment he is going through tries to remain cool: “We try to do the best we can. Getting pissed off only serves to waste time. We are working and I am trying to change things in my riding style, although, obviously, this situation is tough”.
The photos of Valentino Rossi at the 2021 MotoGP Doha Grand Prix
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
