Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi says missing an automatic Q2 spot was disastrous in his quest to score a strong result in the Dutch TT at Assen.
Rossi had set the ninth quickest lap in FP3, which was enough to see him progress straight to Q2 and not have to contest the Q1 session in which only the two fastest riders could make the step into Q2.
His time was deleted shortly after the session though as it was found he had exceeded track limits on his hot lap, touching the green astro at the final chicane.
The nine-time MotoGP champion then struggled for speed in Q1, managing only the fourth fastest time in the session which restricted him to a 14th place starting position for the race.
He admitted to ‘finding something’ in morning warm-up and looked competitive in the race, but lost the front of his factory M1 machine as he approached Turn 8 in the early stages. The Italian went down, taking LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami with him as they tumbled through the gravel at high speed.
His third successive non-score means he has failed to score points since his fifth place at Le Mans, Rossi conceding he was ‘too slow’ when it mattered in qualifying.
“It’s a shame because after a really difficult weekend where we were really slow we found something and then in the race I felt really good with the bike, so this is a bigger shame but very important as I was suffering too much during the weekend so we need to be stronger,” explained Rossi.
“This was a disaster for my weekend (missing Q2 after time deletion), I was also a little unlucky as I only just touched the green astro, but this is also because I was slow.
“I always suffer with a difficult weekend because I lost the first part of FP1 with a problem but also we don’t have the speed, I don’t feel comfortable with the bike and it was a very difficult weekend.”
Rossi, who has won at Assen seven times in his MotoGP career, briefly explained what caused his early retirement.
“I was quite fast so I tried to recover, and I was battling Nakagami and tried to overtake him into Turn 8, but unfortunately I was a bit too far out of the line and then when I entered I lost the front.
“I then also took out Nakagami so it was a massive shame and I have to say sorry, it was a mistake.”
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