Blaž Štremfelj
Valentino Rossi is a race for GP of Portugal ended prematurely by slipping into the sand. The Italian finished the qualifiers in 17th place and managed to find something in the morning warm-ups better engine settings, which allowed him to break through to the tail of the top ten by choosing a hard rear tire.
It's just before resignation successfully overtook his brother Luco Marini, losing some time. "The race was a bit better, as we found better brake settings, and we also decided to use a hard rear tire," he explained racer of the team Petronas SRT. “I had a better feeling, the engine was more stable, and there was more grip when accelerating, which made me faster in the fourth sector. My theme wasn’t bad, but unfortunately the race is always tough if you start it in the background. After a mistake in the first turn, I lost some more time when I overtook Luca. I had to be more aggressive as I was faster in that moment. I drove after Alex Marquez, which means we were similarly fast. But I lost a lap and a half when I overtook Luca. It feels pretty weird when you overtake your (VR46) engine, especially when you overtake your brother.
In the end, I managed to get to tenth place, but my front tire slipped. It happened in the 11th corner, which is quite demanding on the front tires. It was hot in the race and I had a medium hard front tire, so it was wearing more. We lost quite a few points, which is a great pity, especially because the race was pretty solid until the fall. ”
The tires, however, will, according to Rossi, strongly shape his form also in Jerez. "We were able to race with hard tires here, so I was able to be faster. the race towards the end was not bad, given the starting position. My pace was much better than on Saturday, so I'm sure we can do better in Jerez. "
