Yamaha MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi started the Argentina Grand Prix weekend on a more positive note. The Doctor worked diligently on his bike’s setting in FP1 in preparation for the race on Sunday.
Focusing on bike improvement rather than lap times, he ended the morning practice with a 1’40.827s best lap for tenth place, 1.000s from the top of the timesheets.
“It was a pretty good day because I’ve always been pretty fast. This morning we worked well with the tyres, even with used tyres.” Rossi said.
“In the afternoon we tried other things and at the end I did the time attack. I’m sixth at 0.2s from the first rider, and it isn’t a bad first day. Obviously, there are still so many things to do before the race.
“We are working well with the team, and I’m happy because I can ride the bike well. There are so many really fast riders, it will be important to stay very focused to be in the top-10.” he added.
Rossi used the second free practice to further fine-tune the balance of his bike, to match it to Termas de Río Hondo’s track, setting everything up for a final push at the end of the session.
He executed the plan to perfection. As various rivals were also trying to put in a hot lap, the Italian avoided traffic and posted a 1’39.441s lap, earning sixth position in both the FP2 and combined free practice results.
Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi are keen to move on from Qatar disappointment. (Source:www.jawapos.com)
“The start was a bit tricky today, because this morning the riders suffered from wheelspin, especially Maverick. We had to invest quite a chunk of track time in FP1 and FP2 to tackle this problem but managed to make both riders feel comfortable by the end of FP2, so they can push for a place in Q2.” Yamaha boss Massimo Mergalli said.
“The lap times are close, and the field was dropping the times fast. This means we need to keep pushing at the maximum to achieve our goal of featuring at the top of the timesheets.
“We still have areas where we can work on to improve and, consequently, we expect to improve our pace. The rear tyre choice still has to be finalised, we have to choose the one we prefer for the race and focus on prolonging tyre life.” Mergalli added.
