MotoGP Misano: Valentino Rossi “Very happy with the front row, the helmet is a tribute to Sic”

Valentino Rossi he closed the official qualifying in Misano with the 3rd time and will therefore start from the front row tomorrow. The Pesaro native is very confident for tomorrow also because here, unlike the other races, he felt good from the first day on the bike and then he also has a lot of confidence in the new gearbox, the seamless, which according to him is much easier to use and makes the bike more precise. The goal for tomorrow is therefore to stay with the top three for the entire race and then he will try to give joy to his many fans who have come to Romagna to see him.

“I am very happy with these qualifications – said Valentino Rossi – we worked well, this time unlike the other races I didn't suffer in practice and starting from the front row is very important for tomorrow, because as I repeat the two Hondas, especially Marc and also Lorenzo, are very fast.
I think and hope that I will be as competitive as I was on both days, we changed the setting and even with the new tire I can be fast straight away, but I have to make a good start because in my opinion Lorenzo will immediately go very fast from the first corner. I really like seamless, it is very precise, easy to use, the bike with this gearbox improves a lot and especially for the race it will be important because it will allow us to wear the tires less. The goal is to at least get on the podium. We hope that it won't rain tomorrow because we feel great with the dry weather and then with the sun it's nicer also for the people who came here to Misano"

Would you sign for a result like last year? (2nd behind Lorenzo ed.)
“I would like to finish on the podium like last year, but I want to fight more and try to stay with Marquez and Lorenzo for the whole race. Marquez is impressive as always this year, he manages to ride the Honda more sideways so he manages to be faster than Pedrosa, he's the favorite but I want to at least try to annoy him"
Would you consider being Lorenzo's wingman tomorrow?
“No, not tomorrow I wouldn't consider acting as Lorenzo's wingman”
Valentino, but here in Misano in front of your fans, don't you hope to be able to repeat the result of Assen?
Yes of course we'll try, in the meantime there's still one more day, in Assen I made a change in the warmup and finished first so we'll see because as you say it's my home race and I want to give everything in front of my fans"
Tell us about the helmet you brought here today
This year I decided to make a serious helmet because Marco hasn't been with us for a while now and here we race near his house and the circuit is named after him and so I decided to make this tribute for him. Doing it like this was an idea from a friend of mine who was a good friend of Sic. I wanted to remember him with a Pink Floyd song because in that song there is a part of the chorus that every time I hear it I think of Marco and I wish, like everyone else, that he was here with us"