For Valentino, Misano is not just a race, it is the race for many different reasons. It was on this route that he was born a rider, here he tested a real bike for the first time, it is a few kilometers from his home, it is the center of the yellow army that has followed him across the world for more than twenty years. Saying goodbye to his audience to the last (or rather penultimate, considering that we will be returning to racing at the end of October) with a good performance would be important for the doctor, but so far it has not been going in the right direction .
Rossi crashed in FP3 and Q1 and will start tomorrow from the penultimate starting position.
“Is there anyone who says I should take a more relaxed approach to my last races? It would be a decision, maybe even the right one.” – he joked – But I am here and I want to do my best. Like this morning, I wanted to try to get into the top 10 and I made a mistake. I have to do my best without doing anything crazy “.
From starting position 23, it will be uphill tomorrow.
“I was optimistic about qualifying because I had good pace in FP4” – he explained – Unfortunately the hard tire has better braking potential, but it is also very close to the limit on the left side, especially in turns 6 and 15. My first lap in Q1 was not bad, but in the second I have one Mistake in Turn 4, I went too far, slowed down and then tried again in the next. I must have been 5 seconds slower and I was a bit unlucky because I didn’t expect to lose the front like that. On the other hand, I haven’t injured myself and still have the pace to do a decent race tomorrow. “
It is his goal for the public (25,000 limited admissions per day due to Covid) to paint the stands yellow and look for his heir. It could be Bagnaia, author of a record post.
“I will leave MotoGP with many good intentions for the Italian riders – commented Valentino – There are Pecco and Morbidelli who I think will try to win the title next season. Bagnaia could even make it this year. The biggest thing is that he rides with Ducati, an Italian on an Italian motorcycle, and it’s hard to want anything more. It is as if an Italian is on pole position in a Ferrari in Formula 1 in Monza, it is the apotheosis of motorcycling and the fans will have to come in large numbers.
Misano has another meaning for Rossi as it is the track dedicated to Marco Simoncelli.
“I miss Sic so much, especially as a friend, because we spent so many good times together and had a lot of fun – he recalled – Then as a rider, because in 2012 he could have gotten on the official Honda and the 1000cc bike would have been better for his body, he would have been able to fight for the title and we would have had fun. We set up the Riders Academy in his honor because Marco is the first rider we have helped. It’s a shame he’s not here ”.
After all, the doctor wanted to greet his daughter in this race, whose birth was announced a few weeks ago.
“We don’t know the name yet, we will decide at the last minute how I like it – he smiled – we decided to use a few lines from ‘With the pink Ribbon’ by Lucio Battista, in truth the song is about a man who doesn’t want to get married, but it seemed nice to us and we made it our own. What if I’m scared of getting married too? It doesn’t fit my plans, I’m not very interested, “he concluded a laugh.