Qualifying at MotorLand Aragon did not go well for Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP). Failing to gain automatic entry into Q2 qualifying left the nine-time World Champion looking for a tow in Q1 to improve his chances of moving through, but alas it wasn’t to be and he missed the cut off. After penalties for some others, that put the Italian in P17 on the grid.
But that was far from all she wrote, as Rossi sliced through the field to take eighth on race day.
“We modified the bike a lot,” explains the rider from Tavullia. “We tried to work in a different way and already from this morning I felt better. My feeling with the bike improved and we could make some adjustments for the race. The race was better than I expected because I wasn’t particularly fast but my pace was constant. I was able to recover a lot of positions because I started from the back of the grid, and able to take some points for the championship so from one point of view it’s better than yesterday.”
That it is, with a DNF for key rival Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) meaning the gain was that much greater for Rossi in terms of the standings, and he moved a little further clear in third place overall. The negative? “Our technical situation is quite difficult, because have to fight at the maximum to be able to get into the top ten…”
Next the ‘Doctor’ will be back on track at Buriram for the PTT Thailand Grand Prix in two weeks.