GP of Andalusia – GP of Andalusia: Rossi presses Yamaha and lifts his 235th trophy – Used YAMAHA

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Andalusia GP: Rossi presses Yamaha and lifts his 235th trophy

GP of Andalusia - GP of Andalusia: Rossi presses Yamaha and lifts his 235th trophy - Used YAMAHA

No, Rossi is not finished! At the end of the Spanish GP last week, the dean of MotoGP was no more than an old rider breathless and betrayed by his mechanics. But yesterday at the Andalusian GP, ​​the n ° 46 once again became a formidable tactician and fine tuner. The wheel spins…

Valentino Rossi, Yamaha Factory (4th in qualifying and 3rd in race): "I’m very happy because it’s been a long time since I’ve been on the podium. We are coming out of a bad period with bad results. So this weekend we started to work in a different way".

"I’m very happy with the work David Munoz has done and the rest of my team also worked well. I was able to have a good lap from the start and the rest of the race was very long, but I’m happy to be back on the podium. For me, it’s not quite like a victory but it looks like it! "

  • Andalusian GP – Race:
  • Andalusian GP – Qualifying:
  • MNC file:

MNC analysis: Rossi is finished, he must give up his handlebars to faster and younger than him, he tarnishes his fabulous career and weighs down his statistics, he persists and makes a fool of himself … Formerly unanimously rallied to his cause, MotoGP fans were many to shoot the ambulance "The Doctor"…

However, the nine-time world champion admits it himself: his first race of the 2020 season in Jerez (retirement due to an engine problem when he was riding in 10th position) was unworthy of a factory driver. Just like some of his performances at the end of last season !

GP of Andalusia - GP of Andalusia: Rossi presses Yamaha and lifts his 235th trophy - Used YAMAHA

Eighth of the 2019 GPs contested in Aragon, Buriram, Phillip Island or Valencia, the famous n ° 46 of the Yamaha Monster team was far, very far from his teammate Maverick Viñales. Very far from the one who will logically replace him from 2021: a certain Fabio Quarto … Quorta … Quartararo ?!

"We fought a lot with David (Munoz, his new chief engineer, editor’s note) and the whole team because we needed a change", explained Rossi during the press conference after this GP in Andalusia, "but he had to put a lot of pressure on Yamaha, which was not easy ".

GP of Andalusia - GP of Andalusia: Rossi presses Yamaha and lifts his 235th trophy - Used YAMAHA

Convinced that it was up to his Italian star to adapt to a motorcycle that gave satisfaction – podiums and victories! – to his Spanish and French comrades, Yamaha finally gave in: "Friday morning we changed something and from the third round, I felt better", assures Vale without going into details despite a few reminders from journalists.

"We have seen in the last season and a half that Vale is not where he usually is. He was very disappointed and really wanted to change something after the first weekend," Lin Jarvis confirmed at the microphone yesterday. from our colleagues at BT Sport.

GP of Andalusia - GP of Andalusia: Rossi presses Yamaha and lifts his 235th trophy - Used YAMAHA

“He insisted, we accepted and made the change. I wouldn’t say that solved all of his problems, but he feels a lot more comfortable and feels like it’s his bike again and that ‘he can therefore drive it better. This is in part what the drivers must do: attack inside the garage as on the track ", recognizes the boss of the Blues.

When Yamaha listens to its rider n ° 1 n ° 46

The Iwata firm is generously rewarded for its gesture towards its legendary pilot! Rossi completes a 100% Yam ‘podium – unheard of since Phillip Island in 2014 – and above all allows his employer to move away from the constructors’ standings: with Quartararo’s double, Yamaha totals 50 points against 26 for Ducati, 19 for Honda and KTM, 11 for Suzuki and 5 for Aprilia.

Now more comfortable on his bike in – entrances – turns, the giant of Tavullia – in the figurative sense because of his glorious track record, as in the literal sense because it is a great template for a speed pilot – now sees the future in a brighter new light.

GP of Andalusia - GP of Andalusia: Rossi presses Yamaha and lifts his 235th trophy - Used YAMAHA

His confidence and motivation are boosted to a lap a tour ! Valentino has also confirmed that in 2021 he will join the Yamaha Petronas team. A way of forcing the hand of the current Quartararo and Morbidelli team which has not yet formalized the news … nor established the list of members or signed the check ?

Good news for the fans – and the organizers – of the championship: Rossi should therefore play a complete new season at the Intercontinental Circus. It is true that a 2020 farewell tour confined to Europe would have disappointed many supporters in the rest of the world. Because Vale remains very popular !

Yesterday in Jerez, the celebration of the oldest motorcycle Grand Prix (he has been 41 years since February 16) facing empty stands – in his favorite "little corner" of the track – proved that the facetious "Rossifumi" still has the sense of spectacle. The sparkling Valentinik is always thirsty for Prosecco and the good old Doctor seems to have finally found a cure for "his" M1.

"Jerez is a track that I love, but since my victory in 2016 I have always suffered there in recent years, I have had bad races there all the time," he observed yesterday. "Getting on the podium here after a good race and on a 60 ° C track means that we are on the right track and that we can also be competitive in Brno", predicts Vale..

Rossi takes the breath and the momentum of Viñales

Clearly in delicacy with his rear tire from halfway through the race, the most experienced rider on the MotoGP field was never able to follow the imposed and then perfectly regulated tempo of our compatriot "Fabiolous", the first double French winner in the premier class of the Grand Prix motorbike. But Vale overpowered his teammate Maverick, almost to the end…

Clearly in symbiosis with its front tire (a hard one, like the overwhelming majority of its opponents this time!) Throughout the 25 laps of this Andalusian GP, ​​it was impossible to get on the brakes. Impossible for Viñales in any case, who stumbled for a long time on the defensive trajectories and more in "V" of his predecessor.

GP of Andalusia - GP of Andalusia: Rossi presses Yamaha and lifts his 235th trophy - Used YAMAHA

"I was stuck behind Vale and couldn’t breathe most of the laps, I was winnowed," Maverick said as he got off the bike. "I don’t know why, maybe it was the heat from the other bikes, but I couldn’t do more".

Viñales’ decisive attack on Rossi was triggered by a slight gap by No.46 near turn 9, on the penultimate lap. Without it, the Spaniard would have had to draw on his ultimate resources to put the brakes on his teammate clearly slower, but incredibly strong..

Will Rossi’s third place in Jerez be enough to silence his critics? Certainly not. There will always be some to calculate that without Marquez’s forfeit, without the injuries of Rins, Dovizioso, even Crutchlow, without the mechanical problems of Bagnaia and Morbidelli, Rossi would rather have finished ninth….

GP of Andalusia - GP of Andalusia: Rossi presses Yamaha and lifts his 235th trophy - Used YAMAHA

Unfortunately for them, the circumstances fade and the statistics remain. This Sunday, the oldest motorcycle Grand Prix has relaunched his podium count: he posted 235 … in 404 starts! Or a staggering 58%, a nice nod to the late Simoncelli whose race number still appears on his friend’s helmet.

In the premier category, Valentino Rossi has climbed 199 times in the Top3 … Site readers – who, as everyone knows, have a little more living memory than others – remember that his very first time dates back to year 2000, during his fourth race in GP500 (in the era of two-stroke engines). It was in Jerez !

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