MotoGP Le Mans, Rossi: the position isn't good but the sensations are.

The Le Mans sky didn't smile on the MotoGP riders today, with a track that only allowed for slick tyre in the final minutes of FP1 while the afternoon proved to be constantly wet. Having indications in this weather is useful though, something Valentino Rossi well knows, 8th in combined practice and 10th in the second practice.

“Aside from the final position, I got on well with the Yamaha today - explains the Doctor - Conditions made it difficult for sure, it was important for us to improve confidence after struggling at Jerez”.

You had to settle for riding in the wet...
“I was consistently competitive, especially in the afternoon, and could have done better but I put the new tyre in too late and needed a couple more laps to get it up to temperature. I did better than at Jerez anyway”.

The weather is looking uncertain tomorrow too, though it should be better on Sunday. Will the race be something of a lottery?
“Riding in the wet, you can get some idea of what's needed in the dry too, but in that case it's another story. It won't be a lottery but some measure of luck will be needed for sure”.

This evening a decision will be made about which front tyre to use from Mugello onwards, what do you think?
“Firstly, we don't know why the old tyre magically disappeared, in the sense that we had it in November but by February it had gone. It would be interesting to find out. Many riders have asked to try it again and two thirds preferred it after the Jerez test”.

You too?
“I'm ready for anything, I've shown that I can also be competitive with the new one. We're not talking about a big difference in the end”.

At this point, some might ask to reintroduce the winglets. Dovizioso pointed out after the Mugello test that it's hard to control the bike over the hump at the end of the straight..
“I don't think the bikes are dangerous without winglets, we raced for years without them. In fact last year, Jorge and I broke engines using them, as they caused the rear to lift at that point. We have anti-wheelie controls to help, or they could flatten out that hump. I don't think it's critical”.

Source: http://gpone.com

FP2: 

1. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 41.673s [Lap 18/20] 298km/h (Top Speed) 
2. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 41.716s +0.043s [18/19] 290km/h 
3. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 41.906s +0.233s [12/17] 294km/h 
4. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 41.925s +0.252s [21/21] 295km/h 
5. Andrea Iannone ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 42.078s +0.405s [20/20] 295km/h 
6. Alvaro Bautista ESP Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 42.625s +0.952s [21/21] 297km/h 
7. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 42.729s +1.056s [12/16] 288km/h 
8. Maverick Viñales ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 42.894s +1.221s [17/18] 298km/h 
9. Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* 1m 42.998s +1.325s [18/19] 289km/h 
10. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 43.006s +1.333s [20/20] 290km/h 
11. Aleix Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 43.177s +1.504s [16/16] 288km/h 
12. Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 43.250s +1.577s [19/19] 286km/h 
13. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 1m 43.340s +1.667s [9/14] 293km/h 
14. Johann Zarco FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 44.177s +2.504s [21/21] 291km/h 
15. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 44.276s +2.603s [12/21] 283km/h 
16. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 44.572s +2.899s [12/17] 294km/h 
17. Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 44.678s +3.005s [21/21] 288km/h 
18. Hector Barbera ESP Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 45.074s +3.401s [17/19] 295km/h 
19. Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 45.119s +3.446s [14/18] 287km/h 
20. Pol Espargaro ESP Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 45.622s +3.949s [13/13] 296km/h 
21. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 45.804s +4.131s [17/17] 283km/h 
22. Karel Abraham CZE Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 47.127s +5.454s [7/9] 281km/h 
23. Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 47.701s +6.028s [10/11] 278km/h 

FP1:

1. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 37.467s [Lap 18/19] 292km/h (Top Speed) 

2. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 38.755s +1.288s [17/17] 294km/h 
3. Johann Zarco FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 39.248s +1.781s [20/20] 293km/h 
4. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 1m 39.607s +2.140s [13/14] 294km/h 
5. Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 40.427s +2.960s [17/17] 288km/h 
6. Karel Abraham CZE Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 40.528s +3.061s [14/14] 293km/h 
7. Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 40.817s +3.350s [7/7] 288km/h 
8. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 40.894s +3.427s [16/17] 292km/h 
9. Alvaro Bautista ESP Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 41.024s +3.557s [21/21] 299km/h 
10. Maverick Viñales ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 41.307s +3.840s [11/14] 298km/h 
11. Andrea Iannone ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 41.562s +4.095s [15/18] 296km/h 
12. Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 41.644s +4.177s [11/12] 288km/h 
13. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 41.854s +4.387s [13/17] 274km/h 
14. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 41.871s +4.404s [9/10] 299km/h 
15. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 41.887s +4.420s [16/19] 295km/h 
16. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 41.947s +4.480s [10/16] 287km/h 
17. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 42.040s +4.573s [15/15] 295km/h 
18. Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 42.094s +4.627s [18/19] 293km/h 
19. Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* 1m 42.243s +4.776s [6/7] 294km/h 
20. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 42.891s +5.424s [17/21] 293km/h 
21. Hector Barbera ESP Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 42.953s +5.486s [16/17] 300km/h 
22. Aleix Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 43.114s +5.647s [7/8] 287km/h 
23. Pol Espargaro ESP Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 43.519s +6.052s [10/10] 295km/h