Movistar Yamaha Search for Solution on Second Day in Spain

Qualifying

An incident-packed last Q2 session of the season, held at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit this afternoon, saw Movistar Yamaha MotoGP's Valentino Rossi secure seventh place on the grid for the Gran Premio de la Comunitat Valenciana.

Rossi was impatient to get things going in today's Q2 session. As soon as the pit lane lights went green he dashed out on track aboard his YZR-M1, but he had to hold back due to traffic on his first lap. Once the nine-time World Champion found himself some clear track space, he settled into tenth position. He went on to improve his time on his third try, but didn't better his position and held tenth place as he returned to the pits.

The Doctor was back out on track again with five minutes of the shoot-out remaining. Having dropped to 11th place, he put his head down and climbed up to eighth. He gained another position on his fifth attempt. The Italian had one lap remaining after the flag had come out, but he didn't improve on his 1'30.848s and remained in seventh place, 0.951s from pole. He will start the final showdown from the third row of the grid.

Valentino Rossi

Position: 7th - Time: 1'30.848 - Laps: 9

"I'm quite happy, because I was able to arrive directly in the Q2 with a tenth place, and after I improved a little bit in the afternoon. In qualifying I was improving my position. It was a good lap and I could have stayed on the second row, but unfortunately I made a mistake in the last corner, I arrived too fast, so I lost time. Anyway, the seventh place is not so bad, considering this weekend and our speed. I think we will do a very hard race tomorrow, because our pace isn't fantastic, but it's just the Saturday, so we need to try to do something for tomorrow and we'll see."

Massimo Meregalli

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - Team Director

"The Valencia Grand Prix is proving to be a challenge for us this year. On a positive note, Valentino seemed to have found something in the free practice sessions that improved his feeling. He was gaining momentum throughout most of the Q2 session. It was a pity that a mistake in the final corner lost him time, but he still secured seventh place on the grid.  We know that tomorrow is going to be a tough race for us. After challenging sessions, it's difficult to be confident for the race, but we still believe that we can prepare something for tomorrow."