Catalunya MotoGP: Rear set-up mistake costs Valentino Rossi

Valentino Rossi believes a wrong rear set-up cost him the chance to notch his second successive podium for Ducati in the Catalunya MotoGP race yesterday.

For the third successive race, the nine-times world champion was locked in a race long duel with compatriot Andrea Dovizioso, with the Repsol Honda coming out on top as he did in Estoril and Le Mans.

Rossi had to settle for fifth for the third time in the last four races but the 32-year-old showed signs of progress on the factory GP11 as he finished just over seven seconds away from eventual winner Casey Stoner.

He said: “The good thing is that the distance from Stoner is half compared to Le Mans, which was our best performance. I could actually see Stoner for the whole race, so this is a good thing. We are not so far but for sure I am not happy about the fifth place, especially because yesterday we modified the rear to improve the stability of the bike and we tried in the wet warm-up and it worked very well.

“We decided to use this for the race but unfortunately I lose too much in the entry because I didn’t have enough grip in the right corners and this gave me some problems on the brakes. I was at the limit behind Dovi but I could not push more. We made a mistake but it’s experience as we don’t know exactly this bike. With a better setting I think I could have fought with (Ben) Spies and Dovi for the podium because I think I could improve by one or two-tenths per lap.”

Rossi raced Ducati’s new heavier crankshaft motor and he was pleased with the performance and said: “The new engine is positive because with Dovi on the straight I overtake him from the slipstream. I’m happy because the bike is easier to control in acceleration.”

Rossi might have also expected a tougher fight to cling onto fifth place with fellow Italian Marco Simoncelli trying to hunt him down from sixth place.

But the San Carlo Gresini Honda rider, who started on pole position for the first time in his MotoGP career, never recovered from a woeful start and never seriously threatened to engage Rossi.

Rossi added: “I knew that Simoncelli was in trouble because his lap time was not fantastic, so I tried not to give up and hope that he made a small mistake to give me some advantage. I hope that the first real battle with Simoncelli will be better than a battle for fifth position.”