MotoGP Austria: Braking and front grip proved problematic for Rossi

Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi missed out on a podium during the MotoGP race at the Red Bull Ring to his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, and had to settle for fourth.

Rossi said it was ‘a shame’ as he wanted to have the pace to battle and fight with Lorenzo out on their M1’s, but the multiple-champ experienced problems with braking and front grip, which meant he could not push as hard as he wanted to challenge for the win.

The Italian went for the same tyre selection as Lorenzo and the two Desmosedicis of Iannone and Dovizioso, which was the medium front and hard rear slick tyre compounds. To help with the feel of the rear tyre his crew changed the balance of the bike, but he still felt the performance, particularly with the brakes was not 100 percent.

“I am not happy for the fourth place because my target was to arrive on the podium but in the end of the weekend and in the race it was quite good because I arrived just three seconds from the victory, and not so far from the Ducati’s,” said Rossi, at the Red Bull Ring.

“The great shame for me personally was that Lorenzo arrived in front because he was faster and he could put the Yamaha on the podium, and also the shame is we don’t fight as I wanted to make some overtakes and fight for the podium.

“The condtiions in the race were difficult for everybody and difficult to stop in braking and difficult to exit from the corner and the situation was not for me personally 100 percent under control and I had to risk too much to overtake. We worked well and we will take these points and be stronger next week.

“In the race we tried to help the rear tyre to arrive at the end, and we changed the balance of the bike a bit for this and a lot of time I tried to attack and I didn’t stop and I risked too much. The performance of the brake was not 100 percent but the bigger problem was grip on the front.

“The race was not vey fast and also the Ducati played in the first laps to save the tyre and the fuel and they had a good margin, so they were always there but every time they pushed a bit they had a small advantage. It was a shame as I wanted to fight with my team-mate but it was always a bit too far.”

One aspect that Rossi was pleased with during the race was that he finished ahead of rival, Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez, with the Doctor gaining two points on the youngster.

Rossi added: “It was good to arrive in front of Marquez and we have to try and continue like this and at other tracks the situation will change, but we have to try to stay fast and to take as many points as possible.”