MotoGP: Stomach issues plaguing Rossi despite second place

Valentino Rossi has spent the opening day of action at the British Grand Prix plagued with stomach problems, finding good pace to end the day second fastest behind Cal Crutchlow despite waking up feeling ill.

The Italian was impressive in both sessions though, dipping under the lap record to come home only a quarter of a second behind the blisteringly fast Crutchlow and just ahead of fellow Yamaha rider Maverick Viñales – and says he thinks he’ll be able to be more consistent tomorrow.

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“Physically I am not fantastic, because I hear that like a lot of other people my stomach is not good. Last night it was very difficult to sleep and this morning I woke up wanting to vomit and not in a great shape. But I came better in the afternoon, and I feel ok on the bike thankfully.

“But arriving at Silverstone with incredible weather is great, and I love this great track so it’s nice to be able to enjoy it! The weather is a surprise for everyone! I enjoyed it too because I’ve had a good feeling with the bike from the first lap. We can work a lot on the tyres, try the medium and the hard, because the options for the rear is quite open and we need to make the right choice depending on temperature and the condition of the track.”

It was a strong day too for his Movistar Yamaha teammate Viñales, who finished the day third behind Crutchlow and Rossi, and delighted with his day’s activities after showing that he too has the pace to get involved with Sunday’s podium battle.

“For sure it’s really good to start like this, with a really good feeling with the bike. The pace was there and I felt really comfortable on the bike. It means that we can build on it now tomorrow. It’s difficult to now how the race will be, but I feel good, especially with used tyres, and I know I can do great things here.”

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