Valentino Rossi says “something different” in bike set-up tried in warm-up allowed him to “enjoy” the MotoGP Austrian Grand Prix, having endured a torrid weekend aboard his Yamaha.
Yamaha suffered its worst qualifying of the season at the Red Bull Ring, with Rossi 14th – his worst Saturday results since Phillip Island 2016 – and teammate Maverick Vinales 11th.
Following qualifying, Yamaha management publicly apologised to both its riders, with Rossi later admitting the ongoing issue regarding the M1's lack of traction under acceleration due to its electronics was “frustrating”.
Rossi confirmed he would try something “different” in warm-up in a bid to find more performance, and says the improvements allowed him to run a more consistent pace, but not enough to advance further than his eventual finishing position of sixth.
“I can enjoy a little bit during the race, because I could recover a lot of positions,” Rossi, who maintains second in the standings, albeit 59 points adrift of Marc Marquez, said.
“I did some good overtaking, and nobody overtake me during the race. In the warm-up we try something different, which I liked.
“Unfortunately I wasn't faster [as a result] but I can keep my pace more constant and use less the rear tyre.
“So I start well, but I was in the pack, I have some hard battles at the beginning but after I can recover.
“If I2 could have come through the Q2 and start a little bit further in front, maybe I could battle with [Danilo] Petrucci, but unfortunately [fourth-placed Cal] Crutchlow, no way. We try to improve in the next races.”
Zarco never been so slow with soft tyre
Yamaha stablemate Johann Zarco, on the year-old Tech3 machine, finished three spots back from Rossi in ninth despite qualifying as top M1 runner in sixth.
The French rider opted for the soft rear tyre, and has typically been able to make the softest options last throughout a race, though conceded he had 'never been as slow' as he was with it in Sunday's 28-lap encounter.
“It has been a difficult race, I expected to have a better pace,” he said.
“I chose the soft tyre, because it was the one I had the best feeling with. I've never been slow like that with the soft tyre, it was difficult.
“The first corner I think I lost too many positions, then I think I was not able to catch back this time.
“So I was struggling, tried to do the best but I was too slow. Even when Valentino overtook me I thought I could have a better pace, but it was not possible.”
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