MotoGP: Chassis woes continue for Rossi and Viñales in Austria

The factory Yamaha pair of Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales have once again chalked a difficult weekend up to the problems with their M1’s chassis, after the nine-time world champion finished the Austrian Grand Prix in a distant seventh place.

Struggling with rear tyre life – a persistent issue this season – Rossi was quick to chalk it up to the chassis after the race.

“Today the problems started after ten or twelve laps. Unfortunately, we stressed the rear tyre too much, so the rear tyre dropped a lot and we lost a lot of performance and speed. From that moment on it was very difficult to control the bike and I also made a mistake on the brakes. I didn’t have the pace in the second half of the race, I suffered too much from a lack of grip.

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“It’s a shame because we worked a lot, but it looks like it’s the same problem as we had in Jerez and Barcelona. When we use the rear tyre too much, the bike becomes slower and more difficult to ride in the second half of the race. For sure we have to work a lot mechanically and also on the electronics to improve this problem.

Teammate Viñales, who came home just ahead of Rossi in sixth, echoed the Italian’s concerns, admitting that there was just nothing that he could to do finish any higher.

“I suffered from a big drop in grip of the rear tyre for almost the entire race. When I went wide as I was fighting with Valentino, I just tried to calm down, make the tyre work until the end, but it was totally impossible. Not only with other manufacturers, but also with Zarco, it was really difficult to keep following them. We have to work really hard if we want to fight for this championship. I like Silverstone a lot, it is one of the best tracks on the calendar. I always like going there, I really like the lay-out. I will go for the best result possible, trying to be on top.”

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