After a disastrous start to the GoPro Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, the sun offered Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) a ray of hope and saw his pace pick up. The fourth fastest time in Free Practice 3 granted Rossi direct passage into Q2 and showed that Friday’s issues were a result of the weather. In Qualifying Rossi cut 0.222s off his FP3 time to take third position on the grid with a 1’21.666, an identical time to Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Yakhnich). ‘The Doctor’ was awarded third place on virtue of his second fastest lap, a 1’21.822 during his second run. Rossi had hoped for a better time with his second set of tyres, but traffic hindered him.
The real test comes on Sunday when the race begins, can Rossi stay with Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) and push him as he did in Barcelona? Rossi last won the German GP in 2009, the last time the event was won by a non-Honda rider.
Valentino Rossi: “I was lucky to stay on the first row, because unfortunately with the second tyre I got stuck in traffic and I feel that I could have done two or three-tenths better because I did a 1‘21.6 on the first tyre. I feel good on the bike. We have made a small modification since the Free Practice sessions and I was faster, so it‘s a shame I wasn‘t able to take second place, but third is OK.”