MotoGP Barcelona, ​​Free Practice: Valentino Rossi “Being first has a different flavour”

A radiant Valentino Rossi speaks after the first day of free practice for the Catalan Grand Prix, sixth stage of the 2013 world championship. The Yamaha rider from Pesaro achieved the best time of the day, finishing ahead of team-mate Jorge Lorenzo. A convincing performance, even if there is still everything tomorrow to choose the tires to use in the race.

“I'm very happy of course, this morning went quite well too. Even if it's only Friday it's a great satisfaction to be in the lead, I also did well in testing at Mugello, but being first has a different flavor. Even during the rest of the session I was fast, I also did well with the hard tires and then at the end I put on the soft also to train for tomorrow's qualifying, although in my opinion to be among the first tomorrow we will have to do a little better.

The work for the race will also be very important, above all The choice of tires will be fundamental. Today, for example, there were different choices between the various riders, for example I put the hard and then the soft, a bit the opposite of what Jorge (Lorenzo, ed.) did. With the soft you go faster at the start, but then there could be problems at the end of the race, so the choice will be important.

Of course, those who start on the soft will have an advantage at the beginning, it could be a help, but we will also have to see what the others do. However, being in front is a great satisfaction, the bike is nice to ride. I'm very fast in T2 and T4, while I need to improve in the first corner and T3. We need to work well, improve again tomorrow and have a good race. I'm more optimistic than the other races, I think I can do better. At Mugello I could have gone fast in the race despite the less than brilliant qualifying, it's a shame about the accident with Bautista which left a bad taste in our mouths. To aim to win, you will still need to start from the front row, but the second row might be enough for the podium."

A Spanish journalist then pointed out to him that when he returned to the garage (after setting the best time) there was a roar from the Spanish fans “From this point of view I have to consider myself lucky, I have always had many fans here in Spain. It's a great pleasure, many are rooting for me, despite the fact that there are many strong Spanish riders.”