Valentino Rossi has chalked his Qatar podium up to a breakthrough made with the set-up of his Yamaha during Friday’s practice sessions.
The Italian has struggled all pre-season with Michelin’s softer construction front tyres, which have robbed him of confidence under braking and disallowed him from carrying as much corner speed as he would like.
These issues continued into Thursday’s practice, and the four-time Qatar winner’s prospects for Sunday’s 20-lap encounter looked grim.
However, the team made several changes to the bike during Friday’s running which proved to be a step in the right direction, giving Rossi hope of a top five challenge.
“To start the season with a podium is always great, and it is better than last year,” he said.
“I arrived from a difficult period with a very bad winter test, especially from November, from Valencia when I tried the new bike, I never felt good.
“The situation was quite critical, so something changed from Thursday to Friday, because on Thursday we still have the same problem I had during all the tests and it was very frustrating.
“But Friday was better and I started to improve. So, from that moment, I was quite optimistic to arrive in the first five.”
As well as a breakthrough in bike set-up, Rossi also attributes his pace on Sunday to the cooler temperatures. During the warm-up, Rossi found tyre life to be at a worryingly critical level during his runs in the warmer conditions.
“The warm-up was very difficult, but especially for me, I suffered very much with the high temperatures, the 10 degrees that we had more in the daytime, I felt the tyre (drop off) after three corners.
“These (cooler) conditions in the race were a help for me and it was better. We improved the setting, especially to give me good stability for entry and also my team made a good modification for the front and I was stronger in braking.”
Rossi survived a heavy hit from LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow at the first corner to carve his way through the field, and stuck with team-mate Maverick Vinales for much of the 20 laps.
As the race wore on, however, Rossi began to lose grip with his front medium tyre. The Italian quickly decided it better to hold station than push and potentially throw away a well-earned podium.
“I enjoyed very much. I saw Maverick for all the race and that never happened in all the tests. In the end I hoped Dovi was more in trouble with the soft rear, but I was also in trouble with the front.
“So, if I arrived there and pushed and made a mistake, I would be very angry so for me this podium is very important.”
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