MotoGP: Rossi delighted with front row start

Valentino Rossi is going into today’s Czech Grand Prix delighted with a front row start on the Movistar Yamaha – even if he admitted afterwards that he was expecting even more, believing that it should have been possible for them to depose Marc Marquez for pole position.

But, with strong race pace demonstrated in free practice and one of his best starting positions of the 2017 MotoGP season so far, the nine-time world champion will be looking to reignite his championship hopes after the summer break with yet another Brno victory.

“Today I tried to brake later and open the throttle early. I already felt good on the first run, but the first lap is always a bit difficult. I knew I had a good potential and on the second run I was in the right position, with clear track in front, and I rode well. I was able to push without making any mistakes. It’s a shame for the pole, because we were close, but the second place is a very good result and front row is a good place to start the race from tomorrow.”

It was a more difficult day for teammate Maverick Viñales on the firm’s second bike, however, as he struggled to a distant seventh place, admitting that they never got a handle on race setup and that race pace has to improve.

“It was very difficult in qualifying, because we didn’t find a good set-up and I couldn’t make the bike turn the way I wanted it to. We still have time to deeply check the information we collected today and try to prepare a different set-up for tomorrow’s warm up. I think I can make some steps forward in the race. My race pace is not so bad, but anyway we have to improve.”

But despite his rider’s concerns, team boss Massimo Meregalli was confident after the session that the pair will be able to put on a strong showing in today’s race.

“Starting from first row is always a vital component to having a good race weekend. Valentino was feeling very comfortable on his bike in FP3 and FP4 and he again showed his pace in Q2. His first run was already competitive but, with clear track ahead of him, he really got up to speed on the second outing and came very close to the pole with a 1‘55.073s lap.

“Maverick made some big changes to his bike, but there’s still some fine-tuning to be done. He had a strong race pace this morning, but there’s room for improvement in the second sector, as seen in this afternoon’s qualifying session. Though the weather conditions for the race remain a question mark, we will prepare something for tomorrow’s warm up to see if we can gain a few more tenths before we get into the race-mood.”