Ahead of the GoPro British Grand Prix, second in the Championship Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) spoke to the media about the positive steps made for the Japanese factory at the private test in Misano, which took place on the Sunday before Silverstone.
“We worked on the electronics for acceleration and it looks we made a step because the bike is a bit more smooth, which is important for us,” confirmed the Italian.
On the theme of positive improvements, the topic moved onto SKY Racing Team VR46’s Luca Marini – Rossi’s half-brother. The young Italian has had a good run of results in Moto2™ at the mid-point of this season, securing three consecutive podium finishes in Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria, seeing Marini climb to eleventh in the Moto2™ World Championship with 79 points.
“My brother really impressed me in the last races,” explained Rossi, who was then asked if his half-brother could win the Moto2™ title this year: “Maybe it's a little too early to say so soon. But... why not. Now it depends on how much he manages to concentrate, improve and do even better. But he did three great races and then, in the future, why not?”
The million-dollar question, however, was if the 39-year-old would be willing to give up his elusive tenth title in exchange for his younger brother’s first? After a brief moment of reflection and before laughing about the topic, Rossi’s reply was a simple: "No."