It was quite a disappointing start to the 2016 MotoGP season for the Movistar Yamaha rider who finished fourth overall at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar.
Valentino Rossi, who won at Qatar last season, qualified to start fifth on the grid, he made it to fourth when entering the first corner but was soon overtaken by rival Marc Marquez. Rossi chose to run on the hard front and medium rear Michelins which seem to prohibit him throughout the race, however, Rossi’s lap time remained consistent throughout.
Rossi managed to stick with the front runners during the whole of the race; the pack of five had broken away from the rest of the field early on in the race. Although it looked like he was catching Marquez who was in front of him as if to challenge him, it turned out that his pace was not faster, it was because the riders in front were losing time through overtaking and Marquez struggled when cornering which gave the illusion that Rossi was challenging.
Rossi was one of the only riders who did not run with the new winglets. There is no way of now knowing whether his lack of competitive pace was due to this or the tyre choices that affected his pace, however he looks forward to the next race in Argentina.
“At the end it was a great race, the pace was very fast from the beginning to the end but unfortunately I stayed behind and I didn’t have enough speed to try an attack. I was there but I was never in the real fight; I was always a little bit behind. We need a faster pace and maybe the tyre choice can make some difference but we don’t know. Maybe with the soft tyre I could go faster or I could go slower.
“We arrived behind and unfortunately didn’t get on the podium, but it was a good race anyway with a good start. We are there, we have to work but for sure we are competitive. Last year in Argentina was a great race, one of the best with a great pace and I was coming from behind, but this year it will be a different story especially with the tyres. We need to understand our potential this year.”
Rossi not finishing on the podium meant that we were unable to see what the riders’ responses to each other would have been towards each other, following on from the tension that was caused during qualifying. Rossi was not impressed with his teammate who spoiled a flying lap for Rossi by getting in his way when leaving the pits during the session. The pair had words on track and this continued in the press conference that followed.
As Lorenzo completed his victory lap he did not appear to receive congratulations from Rossi as he passed him by celebrating. It also thought that Lorenzo’s celebration when he got to park ferme was aimed at Rossi. Lorenzo appeared to ‘close the zip on his mouth’ possibly as a jibe possibly to Rossi. Rossi, as ever, had a big fan-base following at the track out in the desert who were very receptive to Rossi, unlike the cold reception the race winner received from the crowds.
