Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1542356
Rossi's Woes A re vou baffled bv the oroblems rhe fr,uvorrty rehably dominant Valentino Rose is havin8 in q'ralifying in this year's MotoGP World Championship - the World Champion not yet on the front row and back on row four in lstanbul? Well, so are Valentino Rossi and his Yamaha crew. The continuing problems with his 2006 Yamaha are alllhe more surprisrnttryen rts preseason tert performance: Until the very final round a! lerez, lhe machine was reliabb/ fast and earned nothing but praise from riders Rossi and Colin Edwards. This was particularly the case at Caolunya, where rt was, in fact, Edwards who set fastest time to win the BMW "l remember at the Barcelona test, it was like the championship was already fin- i'hed," said Rosri in a surprisingt cheerful press bnefing at the Turkish Grand Prix after finalqua[fying. "Nou afteronly I l2 months, we are completely in the s--t." WarminS to his therne, he continued apace: "For the last two years I have be€n very fasr in the wet. ln 2005, there were two wet races, and I won them both, lt was like in rhe Barcelona lests: lt was wet. and we were very fast. Today, we are three seconds behind, and we dont know why. Bfldgestone have an advantate in the wer condrtions, but that rs nor to blame Michelin. Nicky lHayden] was fast on Michelins. The problem is wirh (he bike. lr will be very hard to win tomorrow - even the podium will be diflicult. "l am worried." he continued. "The problem is the same in the wet as the dry and also we cannot use the same tire as the othe6. Nicky and Colin could use somethin8 more hard than us. Whyl We It seemi continued development has resulted in a knife-edge motorcycle that doesn't respond to setting changes. "When we make a chanSe, we know what resuk to expect - but this bike srays the same; it has no effec," Rossi said. "The problem rs. we don\ have tnp at the rear. I have ro wait before I can touch the throt- de. But lhere is also a problem at the front. (hough maybe i( comes from lhe rear - but when lwant to turn, lhe bike doesn't come with me. When the Honda brakes, the back moves from side ro side, bur the front stays in the same place. For me, when I brake and the bike goes a bit side- ways, I arn completely out of control. "The Honda is always more or less the same," he added. "Casey Stoner w_as fast at Qata( then comes here, takes 2 mm out of the preload, and he's fast again fastest in the first dry sessionl. We work always in the same way. I remember with Honda, we would be at the limit. and we would look at the clock, and there were 15 min- utes to 80. Now, there are two minutes to go, and we are in the s--t." Yamaha team stafl and enSineers had a crisis meetint afrer the pmctice in Turke)/, hoping for a qurck fix, although, as Rossi noted: "The championship is long." And. as others said, this is only qualifying. Rossi won at Qatar from row three of the grid, and he might easily do the same in Turkey from the fourth- Rossi had no more words on any possi- ble move to Ferrari nex! year. beyond say- in8, "We must wait one more month," Asked if any other Formula One tearns had approached him, he replied: "No. lf I 80 to FormulaOne, twill be with Ferrari. Mi.hdel Scott o o Vqlenfino Rossi ogoin quolffied poorly in Turkey, I "lf ! go to Formula One, it will be with Ferrari." Toftelli Out For Two Months KTM'S Sebastien Tonelli faces a two-month .ecovery after the crash that left him with a dislocated hip in the Ponuguese Grand Prix, Despite the setback, Tortelli says he's lookinS forward to his comeback. Tortelli is currently being treated in the surgical department of the Lyon hospital in Frarce, where scans have rhown that there is no other litament or bone iniuries other than in his hip area "Of course. on the one hand, I am bitterly disappoint- ed - especially for the tearn," Tonelli said. "They've always given me their full suppon. They've protected me from negative situations, and lhankJ to the unbelievable dedication of the technical staff, they've always supplied me with the best possible bike. We were totally on track in Portugal, and right up to my fall we were absolutely competitive. Fortunately, ldon't have any pain, and I want to get back to my team and racinS as soon as I can." Tonelli was scheduled to leave the hospital on April 27. Despite the setback, GeorSes Jobe, the KTM team bors, is takint a positive view- "Even though we were shocked about Sebastien's accident and iniury, workint constantly to be up front and achievinS a top result in Portugal means that we were right there where we wanted to be," he said. "Sebastien's iniury is a setback, but the current gituation will bond the team and make us stronger. Even after Sebastien's accident, which can h+pen to any rider in any rac€, the whole KTM team is still totally dedicated to the coming races. lonathan Earragan made a huSe improvement in Ponugal on his new bike and celebrated his first podium place. ln particular, the development of the new 450 SX-F delivered excellent results, and this was a big success for the whole team. "Mickael Pichon, who unfortunately is out at the moment with some health problems, is receiving full sup- port from all the KTI'4 team," Jobe continued. "Meanwhile, the MX2 and MX3 teamr have more than demonstrated that we are on the right track and have been settinS one record after another in their classes. And, of course, we are already loqkinS forward to S€bastien's quick return to the team and racing." i'i 'le t ff ,, ,aL I ,\ I k t \ I / ,,([*: (> I t' \l f ft ut (t \ #'{ - Valentino Rossi .rl t CYCLE NEWS r MAY '10, 2006 17