MotoGP Spielberg, Rossi: The Championship? First let's solve the problems.

If this is not a crisis for Yamaha, it is very close to being one. Viñales and Rossi not only finished far behind Ducati and Honda, but even behind the old M1 Zarco rides. A Grand Prix to forget at the Red Bull Ring and more points lost to Dovizioso and Marquez. It could not have gone any worse and Valentino knows it.

“It was a difficult race both for me and for Maverick. We thought we were faster, but things went differently”, he admits.

Did you get something wrong?
“I have no regrets. If we were to start over in an hour, I’d use the same tyres and the same setup. The hard on the rear was the right option for me and, in fact, in the first 10 laps I was fast, like I was in FP4.”

And then?
“After 12 or 13 laps tyre performance dropped a lot. The bike became hard to ride and in the finale I was in real trouble. We stress the rear tyre too much, that is the main problem we need to work on.”

That is nothing new…
“No, it has happened other times whereas in other Grand Prix races we suffered less. When it happens, things go like they did today. I felt good in the first 10 laps. I did the second fastest lap of the race after Zarco. I was pushing but I was optimistic. Johann and the two Ducatis had the soft tyre on and I thought they would have a drop in performance. I thought I’d be able to battle for the podium.”

Why wasn’t the soft an option for you?
“Zarco is able to use it because he has a smooth riding style and he is lighter, whereas Maverick and I are more aggressive. Dovi is similar to us in riding, but the Ducati stresses the tyres less.”

Continuing to speak of Zarco…
“He is happy. He beats the factory riders and laughs, but we are not satisfied finishing fifth. Our goal is not to finish ahead of him, but to battle with the best. I did half the race with Honda and Ducati and the other half with the Yamahas. I could see that we are suffering a lot.”

Performance in the race finale was a weak point last year as well. Did the new frame not solve the problem?
“The new frame solved the problem with understeering. If we look at the Jerez and Barcelona races, we were never fast, whereas today we were for the first part of the race. However, the problem of stressing the tyre is still here.”

How can you solve it?
“As I said, I don’t know which move we could have made differently for the setup. It seems like there is work to be done both on the mechanical and electronic side, so the upgrades should arrive from Japan.”

You mentioned the two Spanish races. Were they worse than this one?
“We had done worse on those tracks, but we expected it, whereas here we thought we would be able to stay with the best until the end. Today we wore the tyre more than last year.”

Now Marquez is at +33 points…
“The championship is difficult both because of the gap in the standings and also because we are struggling, whereas Honda is the bike that has taken the biggest step forward. In any case, it is not smart to think about winning the Championship when you finish 7th. First, you need to focus on being competitive.”

Could Silverstone be the last chance?
“Who knows? It has a layout that is closer to Brno and in theory we should be more competitive.”

Source: http://gpone.com

RACE:

1. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (GP17) 39m 43.323s 
2. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda (RC213V) 39m 43.499s 
3. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda (RC213V) 39m 45.984s 
4. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (GP17) 39m 49.986s 
5. Johann Zarco FRA Monster Yamaha Tech3 (YZR-M1)* 39m 50.585s 
6. Maverick Viñales ESP Movistar Yamaha (YZR-M1) 39m 50.770s 
7. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha (YZR-M1) 39m 52.318s 
8. Alvaro Bautista ESP Pull&Bear Aspar (GP16) 39m 57.838s 
9. Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia (GP15) 40m 2.943s 
10. Mika Kallio FIN Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) 40m 3.089s 
11. Andrea Iannone ITA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 40m 3.424s 
12. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac (GP16) 40m 8.846s 
13. Aleix Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 40m 10.023s 
14. Karel Abraham CZE Pull&Bear Aspar (GP15) 40m 10.644s 
15. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 40m 11.419s 
16. Alex Rins ESP Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)* 40m 16.235s 
17. Hector Barbera ESP Reale Avintia (GP16) 40m 17.435s 
18. Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) 40m 19.746s 
19. Tito Rabat ESP EG 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 40m 25.727s 
20. Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* 40m 35.815s 
Jack Miller AUS EG 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) DNF 
Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac (GP17) DNF 
Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech3 (YZR-M1)* DNF 
Pol Espargaro ESP Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) DNF 

Riders' World Championship:

1. = Marc Marquez SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) 174 points 
2. ^1 Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (GP17) 158 points (-16)
3. ˅1 Maverick Viñales SPA Movistar Yamaha (YZR-M1) 150 points (-24)
4. = Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha (YZR-M1) 141 points (-33)
5. = Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) 139 points (-35)
6. = Johann Zarco FRA Monster Yamaha Tech3 (YZR-M1)* 99 points (-75)
7. ^3 Jorge Lorenzo SPA Ducati Team (GP17) 79 points (-95)
8. ˅1 Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech3 (YZR-M1)* 77 points (-97)
9. = Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 76 points (-98)
10. ˅2 Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac (GP17) 75 points (-99)
11. = Alvaro Bautista SPA Pull&Bear Aspar (GP16) 52 points (-122)
12. ^1 Aleix Espargaro SPA Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 43 points (-131)
13. ˅1 Jack Miller AUS EG 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 43 points (-131)
14. ^1 Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia (GP15) 38 points (-136)
15. ˅1 Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac (GP16) 37 points (-137)
16. = Andrea Iannone ITA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 33 points (-141)
17. = Karel Abraham CZE Pull&Bear Aspar (GP15) 25 points (-149)
18. = Tito Rabat SPA EG 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 23 points (-151)
19. = Pol Espargaro SPA Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) 21 points (-153)
20. = Hector Barbera SPA Reale Avintia (GP16) 21 points (-153)
21. = Alex Rins SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)* 12 points (-162)
22. = Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) 8 points (-166)
23. = Michele Pirro ITA Ducati Team (GP17) 7 points (-167)
24. NA Mika Kallio FIN Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) 6 points (-168)
25. ˅1 Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* 2 points (-172)