MotoGP Italy: Rossi’s Mugello 'dream' goes up in smoke.

Valentino Rossi's hopes of a first home Italian MotoGP victory since 2008 went up in smoke at Mugello on Sunday. The home star had been supported by yellow smoke from the passionate fans packing the hillsides all weekend. But the sight of white clouds spewing from his factory Yamaha on lap 9 of 23 marked a disastrous second DNF of the season. The Doctor admitted the outcome was especially disappointing given he had enjoyed his most competitive Mugello showing in years. 

Starting from pole for the first time since 2008, when he took the last of seven successive wins, Rossi shadowed team-mate and eventual race winner Jorge Lorenzo from the start - close enough to attack at any moment. 

"What can I say? Difficult to say something. I mean is a great shame, is always a great shame when you have a technical failure in the race," Rossi began. 

"But this time was also more because we are in Mugello and have a fantastic atmosphere with a lot of fans, and especially because I was very strong all weekend and in the race. I felt good with the bike and was very fast. 

"So for sure I can fight for the victory at Mugello that is - more than a target - one of my dreams in the last ten years. Because the last victory was 2008. 

"Today in the race I was very fast. And I was behind Lorenzo, but sincerely I think that I had a little bit better pace compared to him, so I can for sure try to attack and try to make my race. But unfortunately the engine broke. 

“This one feels very 'heavy', because it was from Misano 2007 that my bike don't break in the race. Nine years. 

“Unfortunately on lap six, the bike start to have a problem and the clutch didn't open, maybe because the engine already start to seize a little bit. It is for that reason that I go wide. But in seven-eight corners I was already back on Lorenzo, because I was a little bit faster, but after the engine broke.” 

Rossi's engine problem wasn't a complete surprise; Lorenzo had suffered what looked like an identical failure in morning warm-up, raising concerns of an inherent design weakness that may be tough for Yamaha to fix given the freeze on engine development. 

“I think there was the same thing wrong in both engines, but the big difference is that Lorenzo's happened in the warm-up and for me it happened in the race,” Rossi commented. 

Mugello has the fastest straight on the MotoGP calendar, with Ducati's Andrea Iannone setting a new all-time top speed record of 354.9km/h (220.5mph) in Sunday's race. 

Modifications, for safety purposes, are only allowed if there is unanimous consent among the MSMA MotoGP Commission, which would need to be convinced that the changes offer no performance benefit. But such permission has never previously been granted. 

The difficulty is that if a weak part is replaced with a stronger component for example - which then allows the engine to run 'safely' at maximum rpm - that in itself is a performance benefit. 'Just lower the rpm to a safe level', might be a typical response from rival manufacturers. 

For such reasons, the example given in the rules is for 'a faulty batch of parts, with supporting documentation from the parts supplier to identify the problem'. If Yamaha's Mugello issues match that precise description they may have a chance of being given permission to change the part. 

Both Rossi and Lorenzo began Sunday having 'opened' three of the seven engines allowed for this season, all of which must be of identical spec. 

Lorenzo went on to claim his third victory of the season after a last-lap duel with Marc Marquez, and now holds a ten-point lead over the Honda rider. Rossi remains third, but has now dropped 37-points from the top. 

"It's a great shame also for the championship, because I take the 'zero' and Lorenzo and Marquez arrive first and second, so now the distance from the top is 37 points. Is very bad. Is quite a big gap," Rossi admitted. 

"But I think this weekend I did my job at the maximum. I ride well, I was always concentrating and I arrived ready for fight for the victory in the race. In English they say 'shit happens'! This is today. It is like this, but is very important to be strong and try to take from this bad moment extra energy for the next race in Barcelona." 

Source: http://www.crash.net

RAC:

1. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 41m 36.535s
2. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 41m 36.554s
3. Andrea Iannone ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP) 41m 41.277s
4. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 41m 41.445s
5. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP) 41m 42.791s
6. Maverick Viñales ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 41m 45.205s
7. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 41m 49.875s
8. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Yakhnich (Desmosedici GP15) 41m 51.133s
9. Aleix Espargaro ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 41m 55.178s
10. Michele Pirro ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP) 41m 58.833s
11. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 42m 4.471s
12. Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) 42m 12.247s
13. Eugene Laverty IRL Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP14.2) 42m 14.567s
14. Stefan Bradl GER Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 42m 16.629s
15. Pol Espargaro ESP Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 42m 36.346s
16. Yonny Hernandez COL Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP14.2) 42m 40.932s
Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) DNF
Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Yakhnich (Desmosedici GP15) DNF
Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) DNF
Alvaro Bautista ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) DNF
Loris Baz FRA Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) DNF

Riders' World Championship:

1. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 115 points
2. Marc Marquez SPA Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 105 points (-10) 
3. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 78 points (-37) 
4. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 66 points (-49) 
5. Maverick Viñales SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 59 points (-56) 
6. Aleix Espargaro SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 49 points (-66) 
7. Pol Espargaro SPA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 48 points (-67) 
8. Hector Barbera SPA Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) 43 points (-72) 
9. Andrea Iannone ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP) 41 points (-74) 
10. Eugene Laverty IRL Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP14.2) 36 points (-79) 
11. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP) 34 points (-81) 
12. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 29 points (-86) 
13. Stefan Bradl GER Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 25 points (-90) 
14. Alvaro Bautista SPA Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 21 points (-94) 
15. Michele Pirro ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP) 18 points (-97) 
16. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Yakhnich (Desmosedici GP15) 17 points (-98) 
17. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Yakhnich (Desmosedici GP15) 16 points (-99) 
18. Tito Rabat SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V)* 11 points (-104) 
19. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 10 points (-105) 
20. Loris Baz FRA Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) 8 points (-107) 
21. Yonny Hernandez COL Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP14.2) 3 points (-112) 
22. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 2 points (-113)