MotoGP: Rossi about the podium: “It’s a great shame because I did a small mistake”

Valentino Rossi was heartbroken to not stand on the podium with his VR46 riders academy riders.

Valentino Rossi was tantalisingly close to scoring his 200th podium at Misano, joined by VR46 Riders Academy riders Franco Morbidelli and Francesco Bagnaia, a dream podium for Valentino Rossi given the hard work which has gone into the project and the success it has had.

Rossi had an incredibly consistent race, lapping in the podium places throughout the race behind Franco Morbidelli, then Francesco Bagnaia once ‘Pecco’ passed Valentino. Rossi looked set for a podium before Joan Mir came to ruin the party with his blistering pace, overtaking Rossi with ease and blasting off into the distance, demoting Rossi to fourth place, off of the podium, “It’s a great shame, the podium is always special, here in Misano is also more, sharing the podium with Franco and Pecco would be like a race at the ranch, so it’s a great shame because I did a small mistake, anyway, Mir was very strong in that moment, did a very good lap time in the last part in the race and in the end was able to beat me which was a shame as there was 2km to go.”

However, as painful as the pill of not scoring a ‘dream’ podium was to swallow, Rossi was upbeat and positive about the situation, happy for the test this week at Misano and also the chance to try again next weekend, “We did a good pace and I feel good with the bike, was a good weekend for me and my team, we were always competitive, this is so important I think we can improve we have 3 or 4 things we can improve for next week, we have another chance which makes me happier as we can try again.”

The VR46 Riders Academy had it’s most successful race weekend yet with a Moto2 and MotoGP 1-2 with Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi winning and taking second in Moto2 and Franco Morbidelli and Francesco Bagnaia doing the same in MotoGP, Rossi had much to be proud, even surprised at this unexpected result saying, “We are very very proud of our riders, is something very special because also Luca [Marini] my brother and ‘Bez’ [Marco Bezzecchi] finish 1-2 in Moto2, so for us, it is something we don’t expect.”

Even joking about being beaten by the academy riders from the academy he created, jokingly saying, “During my race when I was behind Franco and also Pecco overtake me, I think that this academy was not a great idea.” 

It is clear to see that Rossi knows where to improve and also that he has good pace, consistently lapping in the 1:33 bracket today all race with his fastest lap being the second to last lap. Rossi and Yamaha can use the data gained this weekend for the Tuesday test to get that 200th podium next weekend.

Featured image – www.motogp.com