Valentino Rossi predicts the riders who will be the toughest competitors after the 2019 MotoGP test in Malaysia and Qatar.
There are six riders who are judged by Rossi have the potential to compete in the front row of the 2019 MotoGP race, if they see the results of their tests in Sepang and Qatar.
The first name he called was his teammate, Maverick Vinales, who was judged still very strong. Vinales himself was recorded as the fastest rider on the test of the last day of the 2019 MotoGP preseason at the Qatar Circuit.
“For me, Maverick [Vinales] is in very good condition. Here [Qatar] and Malaysia, he is always in front,” Rossi said as quoted from Crash.
Next, The Doctor calls Alex Rins and 2019 MotoGP rookie Joan Mir from the Yamaha team. The two riders were judged to have great potential to reach the podium this year.
“There is another name, Rins, he is very fast and racing very well. And, it looks like Suzuki is progressing too because there is [Joan] Mir who is very fast,” Rossi was quoted as saying from Crash.
Two collectors of MotoGP world champions, Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi, agreed to call Ducati a very strong team on pre-season MotoGP tests at the Losail Circuit, Doha, Qatar. The Doctor also assessed two Ducati riders, Andrea Dovizioso and Daniel Petrucci, would be the toughest competitors in the front position.
“The two Ducati riders look far behind, but they are [really] very close. They are very intelligent, so there is no meaning to being the fastest in the trials because the race starts at zero points,” Crash.net quoted Marquez as saying.
“Dovizioso has always been very strong in Qatar, and Petrucci has also been impressive during the tests [in Malaysia and Qatar],” said the 40-year-old rider.
Finally, of course he did not forget to mention the name of his eternal rival, Marc Marquez, who had the chance to win back the 2019 MotoGP title. Marquez’s own condition is currently still healing a shoulder injury after undergoing surgery.
“Of course Marquez. They are for me the riders who can be at the top,” Rossi said.
When asked about his satisfaction about the performance of the Yamaha Energy M1 Monster motorbike, Rossi judged that he was not fully satisfied. He considered there are still details that must be improved if his team wants to be able to compete in the real race.
“You have never been prepared as desired. But today [the last test in Qatar] is quite good. We are working quite well with a number of significant advances,” said Rossi.
