Rossi: “I hoped to fight for the podium”

The Yamaha rider had to settle for fourth in Austin

Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi crossed the line fourth in Sunday’s MotoGP race at the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas after a good weekend for 39-year-old, however, the nine-time World Champion was left ruing the warmer Texas temperatures that greeted the riders on race day.

Reflecting on his race, Rossi was happy with the weekend as a whole, but admitted he’d hoped he could mount a greater challenge for the podium. “It was a good weekend because we were always in the top five, but in the race, I hoped and expected to be a bit stronger to fight for the podium, I know that Marquez and Maverick were a bit stronger, I hoped I’d be fast enough to fight for the podium with Iannone, but Andrea was faster than me so I was not able to arrive and attack.”

Here comes @ValeYellow46 👊

The Doctor is up to 4th!#AmericasGP pic.twitter.com/QoaBIb2c8U

— MotoGP™🏁🇺🇸 (@MotoGP) April 22, 2018

In the early stages of the race, ‘The Doctor’ looked to have the pace to stay with teammate Maverick Viñales and Andrea Iannone (Team Suzuki Ecstar), but the hotter conditions gave Rossi a different feeling in the front, meaning his podium attack was hindered. “I suffer a bit in the hot conditions because the front gave me more problems than in the practice so we have to see now, we have to work.”

The number 46’s attention now turns to the Spanish GP at the Circuito de Jerez, a track he’s won at eight times in all classes. “The next round is in ten days and will be in Europe, in Europe the situation is different, last year we suffer a lot so this year will be important to understand if we are competitive.”