Valentino Rossi's Take on Qualifying

Valentino Rossi, #46 with Yamaha Factory Racing

Valentino Rossi is one of only two riders that has competed at all thirteen previous MotoGP races held in the USA (along with Texan Colin Edwards). This weekend’s Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas will be the 35th different circuit that Rossi has raced at since he started his MotoGP career in 2002. The 34 year old Italian, affectionately called “The Doctor,” is a worldwide fan favorite who is known for his animated expressions, playful antics and fun-loving attitude. Rossi will line up eighth on the grid for tomorrow’s race after qualifying with a best lap time of 2’05.380. Following the session, we listened in on the following interview.

VR: We expect to go better but we have to be able to fix the problem in braking and especially the first part; I lose too much. But anyway, we have tomorrow...we know that this weekend, this track can be more difficult. We have to make a good race, to try to achieve some position and take some point.

Media: Which would be the best combination of tyres for tomorrow?

VR: Eh, I don’t know but I think hard or soft. I think, more or less, everybody. So I have some question mark but I think (hard).

Media: So it seems as if the Hondas are in a different league. Can you catch them or is it a case of catching the rest?

VR: Yeah, the Honda is very fast, yeah. And…bigger. They have a big advantage, I think. I think would be difficult.

Media: Best of the rest? 

VR: Eh, ha ha, difficult. But easy if we are able to prove the setting we can; the target is try to stay with Crutchlow, try to stay with Bradl, and after, we’ll see.

Needless to say, Valentino seems honest about the performance of the Yamaha leading into tomorrow's race. Knowing that they do not have the pace of the Hondas and are struggling with grip on track, Rossi will push hard to continue to develop the bike.

Despite a challenging weekend so far, "The Doctor" has consistently had swarms of fans waiting outside of the Yamaha Factory Team pit boxes and throughout the paddock to snap a photo, snag an autograph or simply wish him "Buona fortuna!" His fans are unscathed; their enthusiasm is only rivaled by his charisma and it's easy to see why he is one of the most beloved riders and ambassadors in the MotoGP paddock.

You can follow Valentino Rossi on his Facebook page, his Twitter feed, on Instagram or check out his dedicated website.

Pedrosa Fastest in Practice Three

Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa during Friday's practice session at Circuit of The Americas (Image by Keith Rizzo, COTA)

// Free Practice Three

The MotoGP grid returned to the track for a third practice session this morning with Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa shaving over a second from his previous practice time (2'05.585) and setting the pace for the session (2'04.408). Following behind were Marquez (2'04.795), Lorenzo (2'05.295) and Crutchlow. (2'05.630) The riders will continue their preparations for the qualifying session later this afternoon.

Pedrosa’s teammate Marc Marquez took second position in the practice session following a crash on the entrance to Turn 19 early in the session. The MotoGP rookie for the Repsol Honda team lost the rear end of his bike while beginning the lead into to the penultimate corner, causing him to tumble over the top of his bike, land on his side and slide across the run-off into the gravel. Marquez recovered quickly and returned to the track, holding the top time for the session until the final few minutes when he was eclipsed by his teammate.

Marquez’s spill echoes what many Formula 1 drivers experienced in November: the off-camber geometry of Turn 19 creates difficulty in setting up for the turn-in. Like the first practice sessions of F1 at COTA, many riders in MotoGP are struggling to maintain balance after exiting the wide sweeping right turns of 16-18 and properly setup Turn 19, causing many to overshoot and be forced to sacrifice grip or their line into Turn 20. A deceptively simple turn, this will cause problems for many riders, so keep an eye on how they continue to develop their skills in the last sector of the track; it could make the difference in tomorrow’s race.

// Official Standings

Here’s the full line-up following FP3 this morning (Lukas Pesek and Mike Barnes fell outside of 107%): 

1. Dani Pedrosa
2. Marc Marquez
3. Jorge Lorenzo
4. Cal Crutchlow
5. Stefan Bradl
6. Andrea Dovizioso
7. Valentino Rossi
8. Alvaro Bautista
9. Nicky Hayden
10. Ben Spies
11. Aleix Espargaro
12. Bradley Smith
13. Andrea Iannone
14. Randy de Puniet
15. Yonny Hernandez
16. Karel Abraham
17. Danilo Petrucci
18. Hector Barbera
19. Claudio Corti
20. Hiroshi Aoyama
21. Colin Edwards
22. Michael Laverty
23. Bryan Staring
24. Blake Young

MotoGP Pre-Season Testing: Yamaha Factory Racing

On Wednesday, Yamaha Factory Racing completed their second day of pre-season testing at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. The team consists of 2012 MotoGP World Champion Rider Jorge Lorenzo and six-time World Champion Rider Valentino Rossi (aka "The Doctor).

The testing days proved to be quite helpful as the riders got used to the "long and technical" track on their Yamaha YZR-M1s. In a recap, Yamaha said their riders were able to shave "several seconds off their first times but were still looking for more grip at full lean." This is evident as Lorenzo's best time on Tuesday was 2:05.291 and 2:04.664 on Wednesday; Rossi's best was 2:06.507 on Tuesday and 2:05.518 the second day of testing.

Jorge Lorenzo, No. 99, Yamaha Factory Racing Team

Lorenzo shared: “I feel better today, especially in the last run before the lunch break, we changed the set up of the bike and we improved some tenths so we are closer to the fastest riders, but not as much as we would like. We were too soft in the suspension to start with, we made it harder and in this track it works.

These two days that we are here I think is enough to get a good idea of set up and riding style. The fans will like MotoGP here, it is going to be a great show.

We have been trying different set ups of the bike, no new parts, just playing with the set up, changing the suspension and forks and in the last run I improved half a second with set up changes.

We still don't have enough grip on the rear so we can’t lean over with confidence which is why we are further behind than in Sepang.

I am adapting my riding style every lap a little for the track. In the main straight we are at 340kmh/h which is an amazing speed; when you have to brake and put your helmet up the wind is very strong so it’s difficult to be stable.”

Valentino Rossi, No. 46, of Yamaha Factory Racing Team

Valentino was also positive: “The feeling with the track improved today, we started to work on the bike to improve the difficult points, especially in the three very hard braking areas where it is important to have good stability. It’s also very important to have grip on the edge through the hairpin to have speed along the straight. 

It looks like you can make a big difference in the slow parts here. The chicane part in turn two is very technical and difficult as it is blind; you have to go a bit with memory. 

Step by step we improved a lot from yesterday but have some disadvantage compared to the other guys so we need to put all the sections together.

The target was to come here and try to understand the track and try to be ready for the race. 

Our competitors are able to accelerate faster than us from the hairpin and they have a bit more grip on the edge compared to us so these are the areas where we have to work, in the flowing parts we are not so bad. 

The track is good, a very classical ‘Tilke’ track, I like the fast parts, turn two and turn ten especially. There is lots of hard braking and it is very wide so good for overtaking. The long right before the last two lefts is also good. It's fun and not too hot like it is in Sepang so it's a good place to make a motorcycle race.”

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