MotoGP United States: Valentino Rossi, “We have to improve, but I'm satisfied”

Gp Austin MotoGP Yamaha – Positive start in Austin for Valentino Rossi, author of the fourth fastest time of the day. The Yamaha champion from Pesaro stopped the clock at a time of 2'04.806, just 0.355s from team-mate and world leader Maverick Vinales, who set the third fastest time. Rossi said he was satisfied and ready to continue the race weekend as best as possible. Let's remember that #46 is second in the standings, 14 points behind Vinales.

After FP1 (eighth time) Rossi had this to say: “COTA is always a difficult track for us, but it is also very interesting. The first session this morning didn't go very well, but it wasn't something to throw away. We still have to work a little and find the right balance of the bike. We need to improve when entering corners and make the tires work better. This afternoon we will try to take another step forward.”

The step forward has been made and in FP2 Rossi set the fourth fastest time. “I'm satisfied because this is Argentina's bike and it was important to see if what worked there worked here – Rossi told Sky Sport – I'm in the top ten and I managed to set a good time on the soft. I struggle with my pace especially in tight corners, we need to improve a lot. The bike is stable during gear changes and difficult to turn, we need to improve some things but we are there."

#46 then talked about the fins, which were banned from this year and which were of great help on this track, and about the possibility of using the new fairing..

“On this track the fins can help. We have a lot of low speed acceleration, but we also have a lot of direction changes, so we prefer to go with the standard hull. It was a better start than the first two races. In the afternoon I did a good lap with the softer tire, so I'm fourth, but we still need to work on the pace. I struggle especially when braking, but for sure, compared to Qatar and Argentina, this is a better start. After Qatar I expected better results, but in Argentina I suffered a lot. We changed the balance of the bike a lot and now I have a better feeling.”