Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi believes his chances of becoming a 2017/18 MotoGP world champion makes none sense as long as the Yamaha team has not been able to improve his M1 motorbike.
Unfortunately for the Italian, the sequel proved delicate since far from his best lap in the race, he was once again powerless compared to his rivals and had to settle a seventh alarming position.
Speaking to media, Rossi admitted his race very hard with his team-mate Maverick Vinales.
“It was a tough race for me and for Maverick, we thought we were stronger but on the other hand, things didn’t go that way,” Rossi said.
“I have no regrets, if I had to leave in an hour, I would use the same tyres and the same set-up. The hard back was the right option for me and, in fact, during the first 10 laps, I was very quick, as in FP4.”Rossi added.
However, the 38-year-old rider blames tyres for a difficult MotoGP qualifying. He admitted the bike hard to drive during the race.
“But after 12 or 13 laps, I started having big tyre problem, the bike became very difficult to drive and in the end I was really in trouble. We are stressing too much on the rear tyre, which is the main problem we have to work on.” Rossi said.
“I felt good in the first 10 laps, I managed the second fastest lap of the race after Zarco, I was pushing and I was optimistic. Johann and the two Ducati rolled with the soft tyre, I thought he was going to get back into the ranks, I thought I would fight for the podium.” Rossi added.
Johann Zarco finished at fifth place at Austria Grand Prix. (Source:www.motosport.com)
Yamaha Tech3 rider Johann Zarco managed at fifth place, much better than two Movistar Yamaha’s Rossi and Vinales.
“Zarco is happy, he beat the great riders and he laughs but we are not satisfied if we finish fifth. Our goal is not to reach Zarco but to fight with the best.” Rossi said.
Rossi still at fourth place in the MotoGP standings with 141 points, 33 points behind his main rivals Honda’s Marc Marquez.
