It was one of the most horrid weekends that Valentino Rossi has ever had and Silverstone proved to be a bête noire for the Italian and his team, who were counting on better results after the Catalan GP.
Finishing in sixth, which could have been even worse if three riders (Lorenzo, Spies and Simoncelli) in front him hadn’t crashed.
The Italian struggled from Friday all through today without finding the right set-up that would allow him to ride as he wanted to.
Lacking in grid and never getting his tires into temperature, Rossi cut his losses hoping for a better race at Assen on June 25th and that he doesn’t end up more than an embarrassing minute adrift from Casey Stoner.
“Without a doubt, this weekend was the most difficult so far this season, but we at least managed to do a good job of limiting the damage.
Considering how we came into the race, sixth place is a fairly positive result that helps us to stay not too far from the top of the standings in fourth, which isn’t bad.
We knew that my lack of experience here compared to the others would hurt us, but it’s also true that we haven’t managed to improve our setup as well as we should have.
In fact, today Nicky managed to have a nice race and ride well, even setting the fastest lap, which demonstrates that the Ducati is competitive in the wet.
We didn’t improve enough though, and that made it hard for me, as the bike was difficult to ride and I couldn’t push hard.
We’re all responsible: me, the bike, and the team, so together we’ll try to improve and return to the level we were at in Le Mans and Catalunya as soon as possible, and then take another step forward.
” Nicky Hayden actually outshone his more titled team mate, in all the practice sessions and in qualifying something that no one would have expected heading to Silverstone this weekend, finishing in the same position as he did last year.
“To be honest, I really liked my chances for a podium in the rain today; if you’d have told me before the race that I could have fourth, I’d have said, ‘No thanks, I can do better,’ but I’m not disappointed with my ride.
I didn’t get a great start because the clutch was jumpy, and for the first few laps, it was hard to see and to get heat in the tyres.
I had a big moment on the exit of Turn 1 and actually jarred my shoulder pretty good, but I tried to hang in there.
I saw Colin in front of me for the podium, and I really pushed.
I think that’s the first time I’ve ever had the fastest lap on a Ducati, which is kind of cool even if you don’t get points for it.
Full respect to Colin a week after breaking his collarbone, but I still don’t like him beating me for the podium! Thanks to the team.
It hasn’t been an easy weekend for us, but we kept trying and got a pretty good chunk of points.
We’ll take it and move on.
”
