MotoGP Austria Day 1: Rossi, “Difficult start and the Hondas are very strong”

Gp Spielberg MotoGP Red Bull Ring Day 1 – Valentino Rossi's Austrian weekend did not start well, as in the combined ranking of the two free practice sessions at the Red Bull Ring, he did not go beyond thirteenth position.

The Yamaha champion from Pesaro is 1.172s away from the top, occupied by Andrea Dovizioso's Ducati. Tomorrow morning Free Practice 3 will be decisive as usual, because in case of rain and therefore exclusion from the Top Ten, the #46 would be forced to compete in Q1 to try to access the final qualifying phase, where the pole position of the Austrian Grand Prix, eleventh stage of the 2017 MotoGP. He has the floor.

“It was a difficult Friday because I expected to be a little more competitive. This morning was tough, also because after the Brno test I had some difficult days, sore throat, headache, and flu. In the afternoon, I felt a little better, the doctors gave me something that helped me and, above all, I felt better on the bike, particularly in the race configuration – said Valentino Rossi – Unfortunately there are corners where we lose a lot, while Last year I went fast. We have to work hard with the team to try to be competitive. Tomorrow, the first goal will be to be in the top 10. Today with the soft tire I made some mistakes.”

Rossi also spoke about the new fairing brought by Yamaha. “It can be useful, but I don't understand whether we can use it or not. Here it would be important to have it in the race and if it is approved we will use it."

One last thought on the opponents. “Honda has improved a lot, they have made a big step forward compared to last year. Without putting on race tires they lapped in 1:24.4 and 1:24.6. We must be more competitive.”