Le Mans MotoGP: Rossi: 'Decent lap, better pace' during 'dangerous, scary' day

Valentino Rossi to start from ninth on the grid in Sunday's French MotoGP after a 'scary' Saturday of low track temperatures and constant weather changes.
Valentino Rossi, MotoGP, French MotoGP 14 May 2021
Valentino Rossi, MotoGP, French MotoGP 14 May 2021
© Gold and Goose

"The race will be 42 minutes and today in🧜 42 minutes the weather changed from wet, 🌠to dry, to wet again!"

Those🦋 w🌳ere the words of Valentino Rossi as he described the challenge of trying to adapt to the "incredible" weather conditions at Le Mans on Saturday.

"When it's like this 🧸it's very scary, especially because maybe the first part of the track is dry but then you arrive very fast at a wet part," he said.

"It's very dangerous, very scary, you have to be lucky to slow down in time. And also although the track d꧟ries very fast, some wet patches remain, so it's not easy to understand.

"But fortunately we are able to find a window to make the Qualifying 2 practicꦡe in the dr🦩y."

Rossi and Petronas Yamaha team-mate Franco Morbidelli were the only riders to correctly🐷 start the Q2 session on slicks, others initially fitting wets before immediately pitting.

"In the Petronas team we made the right choice, right strategy, because my coach Idalio Gavira gꦫave to us the right way and we started with slicks and it was a small advantage for us," Rossi said.

But the potential advantage of extra laps was negated when 💛Rossi suffered a 🧸big scare at the final corner.

"Unfortunately, on the second lap I weꦦnt a bit wide at the last corner and touched a wet patch, it's a question of maybe 5cm. I lost the rear and it was a big moment.

"I was able to recover but I lost some feeling in sector 4. It was a shame💧 because at that moment I was strong, I had red helmets and I was fast. Then also on my last lap I was a bit too conservatiꦆve.

"But at the end I was able to make a decent lap and I will start ꦜninth tomorrow. That's a lot better than in th🔯e recent races and also my pace is better, especially in the dry.

"Yesterday I was fast in the wet, the position was not fantastic because I didn't put a new tyre at 🍸the end but my pace was not so bad. Today we had more problems and we don’t understand very well why.

"It looks like the Yamaha has been struggling more in the wet and that the other bikes are able to accele💞rate faster out🐻 of the corners.

"The problem is that also tomorrow t𒈔he weather forecast is like today, so it will be very difficult and we will see."

While Rossi saved his scare at the final corner there have been no less than 77 falls, across all three𓆏 grand prix classes, at Le Mans so far this weekend, including 19 in MotoGP.

"Usually when we speak with Michelin, to be safe we need 20 degrees on the asphalt. So it's means 15-16✤ air, maybe 14. So all this weekend is too dan༒gerous!" said Rossi.

Michelin agreed with Rossi that track temperatures ha💙ve all been under 20 degrees so far this weekend, ranging from 12 to 18 degrees on Friday and 14 to 18 degrees on Saturday.

Meanwhile the official ground temperatures in the MotoGP s🗹essions so far, presumably taken ꦅin a different place, are listed as; 9 degrees (FP1), 14 degrees (FP2), 7 degrees (FP3), 21 degrees (FP4), 22 degrees (Q1) and 21 degrees (Q2).

Either way, at least half of the sessions look to have been below the minimum Michelin track temperature threshold stated by Rossi, which alsꦅo explains why Sunday's warm-up sessions have been delayed by 30-minutes.

Aleix Espargaro, Brad Binder, MotoGP, French MotoGP 15 May 2021
Aleix Espargaro, Brad Binder, MotoGP, French MotoGP 15 May 2021
© Gold and Goose

Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro was adamant that s♊uch 💫a situation cannot continue.

"We can’t come to Le Mans with 12♑ degrees on the tarmac, because the tyres that Michelin and Dunlop are bringing to us are not working. I don’t know if someone sees it as funny that we crash, but to us it is not," he said.

"Everybody is crashing. Are we all idiots? No, 𝓰we are not. I’m very angry about this. Today I’ve been faꦚst in the wet. It’s not that I don’t want to ride in the wet. I do. It’s part of my job. It’s not a problem. But not in 12 degrees.

"Why don’t we change𒈔 the race to a normal situation? If not, push the manufacturers of the tyres to do a special tyre for Le Mans.

"In the MotoGP allocation of front tyres, tꦰhe 'K' tyre is very soft. I would say it’s the standard tyre that we use everywhere and nobody’s able to use it this weekend. Everybody’s with the 'P'.

"Normally the 'P' tyre I don’t even put it on the bike, I use it 💎as a transport tyre. It’s super soft and we are even like this crashing. And Michelin have no other option which is softer. We have to think about it."

One suggestion has been for Le Mans to swap future race dates with Mugello, due to be hel☂d at the end of t𓆏his month.

"I don’t know how much can change in two weeks," said Rossi. "Maybe one month would be better, but this is not a choice for us and Le Mans has to organise also the 24-Hour 🌳car race in June."

Rossi'♕s team-mate Franco Morbidelli qualified in fourth place.

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