Rossi "not fast enough" to beat Iannone to podium finish

Valentino Rossi concedes he was “not fast enough” at Valencia to beat Andrea Iannone to the bottom step of the podium in the MotoGP season finale.

The Italian duo were embroiled in a fierce scrap for third place at the Spanish circuit, having both dropped behind Marc Marquez in the fight for second behind Jorge Lorenzo with 10 laps remaining.

Rossi and Iannone swapped places on numerous occasions throughout the race, with the Ducati rider enjoying a straight-line speed advantage that allowed him to immediately counter-act the moves Rossi put on him.

In the closing stages, the seven-time premier class champion's pace began to ebb with tyre wear, and he ultimately was forced to settle for fourth place behind fellow countryman Iannone.

"For sure I'm not happy to lose the podium, it was a very tough race but also a good race and I enjoyed a lot the battles," said Rossi.

"I was able to overtake Iannone and stay some laps in second place, but I was not fast enough to take some margin. So after we started to fight, and Marquez in the second half of the race was a lot faster, no way [to keep up] with him.

"After we continue the battle with Iannone, it was a very hard fight, it was good. I tried everything, but unfortunately Iannone was faster, and on the last lap he did a very good time, better than me.

"I suffered a bit, unfortunately at the end I just finish fourth. We try everything, but not enough for the podium."

Asked why he was unable to match Yamaha teammate Lorenzo's pace in the Valencia race, Rossi replied: "Jorge at this track is better than me, he's faster.

"I think at the end, most of all is that I suffer a lot with the tyre, especially for me the front tyre, I don't have the right tyre for me.

"I wanted to race with the hard, but I didn't have enough grip on the left [side]. Today with a bit more temperature I suffered a bit with the soft."

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MotoGP Aragon: Marc Marquez leads Valentino Rossi in first practice

Honda's MotoGP championship leader Marc Marquez led Yamaha's Valentino Rossi in first practice for the Aragon Grand Prix.

In a fairly quiet session, Marquez set his time of 1m48.830s roughly halfway through the 45 minutes.

Already on top, it extended his advantage to 0.743 seconds over Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo, and that margin stood into the closing stages.

But it was then halved by Suzuki's Maverick Vinales and Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso - who set identical lap times - and then by Rossi after the chequered flag.

Having moved up from seventh to fourth on his previous lap, Rossi's 1m49.016s was ultimately 0.186s slower than Marquez, while Vinales and Dovizioso were 0.348s off the pace.

Lorenzo did not use fresh rubber or improve late in the session and finished fifth, ahead of Ducati's Andrea Iannone.

After fracturing a vertebra in his upper back at Misano a fortnight ago,Iannone has been cleared to ride but he reported feeling significant pain.

A decision on whether he continues is expected to be made before second practice, and Ducati has test rider Michele Pirro on standby.

Danilo Petrucci was seventh and the top satellite rider for Pramac Ducati, ahead of Aleix Espargaro - who regrouped from an off at Turn 12 on his Suzuki - Tech3 Yamaha's Pol Espargaro and LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow.

Misano winner Dani Pedrosa had to settle for 11th, 1.163s slower than his team-mate Marquez.

Tito Rabat fell with two minutes to go at Turn 2, and his new Marc VDS Honda team-mate Nicky Hayden was 20th, filling in for the injured Jack Miller.

Yonny Hernandez also crashed at Turn 2 but at the start of the session while Loris Baz, who is returning from injuries sustained at Silverstone, finished at the foot of the times.

FP1 RESULTS

POS	RIDER	TEAM	GAP	LAPS
1	Marc Marquez	Honda	1m48.830s	17
2	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	0.186s	19
3	Maverick Vinales	Suzuki	0.348s	16
4	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	0.348s	16
5	Jorge Lorenzo	Yamaha	0.743s	16
6	Andrea Iannone	Ducati	0.771s	17
7	Danilo Petrucci	Pramac Ducati	0.889s	19
8	Aleix Espargaro	Suzuki	0.901s	16
9	Pol Espargaro	Tech3 Yamaha	0.908s	19
10	Cal Crutchlow	LCR Honda	0.926s	17
11	Dani Pedrosa	Honda	1.163s	17
12	Scott Redding	Pramac Ducati	1.283s	18
13	Stefan Bradl	Aprilia	1.538s	18
14	Hector Barbera	Avintia Ducati	1.884s	17
15	Tito Rabat	Marc VDS Honda	1.986s	20
16	Eugene Laverty	Aspar Ducati	2.128s	15
17	Alex Lowes	Tech3 Yamaha	2.273s	19
18	Alvaro Bautista	Aprilia	2.309s	18
19	Yonny Hernandez	Aspar Ducati	2.558s	15
20	Nicky Hayden	Marc VDS Honda	3.043s	17
21	Loris Baz	Avintia Ducati	3.850s	15

Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo congratulate Alex Lowes on winning Suzuka 8 Hours

MotoGP and Yamaha legends Valentino Rossi and Jorgo Lorenzo have led the congratulations for Alex Lowes and his team for winning the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race.

Lincoln-born Lowes rider was part of the three-man squad, along with MotoGP star Pol Espargaro and Japanese rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga, which completely dominated the 2016 edition of endurance racing's blue ribbon event.

It is the second year in a row Yamaha have won the event, but the first time Lowes has triumphed.

"I'm very, very happy. This is the first time I've won this event and the whole week has been fantastic," said Lowes, who rides for Pata Yamaha in World Superbikes.

"It's a totally different experience to my normal racing championship and the atmosphere we have in the team and the relationship we have has been really enjoyable, both on the track and off the track.

"The feeling you get when you win is fantastic and it's been a couple of years since I've felt that.

"I want to say a massive thank you to the whole Yamaha Factory Racing Team for inviting me here. All the staff and guys have been fantastic.

"Pol and Nakasuga-san have been fantastic team-mates, they're really fast which has made the job a lot easier for me, so a big thank you to them and hopefully I'll be back next year."

The victory earned praise from none other than MotoGP icon Valentino Rossi and his Yamaha team-mate, reigning world champion Jorgo Lorenzo.

Rossi tweeted: Great congratulations to everybody in Yamaha Factory Racing for the fantastic victory at Suzuka8h!!! RevsYourHeart

Spaniard Lorenzo, who will switch to Ducati for 2017, tweeted: "Congratulations to YamahaTeam for the 2nd victory in a row at Suzuka8hours!

Lowes resumes him World Superbike campaign in Germany in mid-September.

His twin brother Sam continues his challenge for the Moto2 title in Austria on the weekend of August 14.

MotoGP, Rossi: race? difficult to predict

"We put in a few kilometres with the Michelin rain tyres, the balance would change, but not drastically"

He missed out on first place by just 4 thousandths of a second, but that won’t get Valentino Rossi down at Assen. On this beloved track, he started out a bit stealthily in the morning, coming back in the afternoon. The only thing in his way was Iannone, not a concrete threat because in any case he will have to start from the back of the grid.

“It’s true. In the first session I struggled and had a few problems – the Doctor confirms – but for the second session we changed the bike’s balance and took a step.”

Are you already satisfied?

“There is still work to do, because on this track you need a good balance in the fast corners. In the last part of the session I put on the soft tyre, because we are all worried about the weather tomorrow, and the M1 worked very well.”

What is the pace situation?
“With the hard tyre everything is a bit more difficult, but I’m able to maintain a fairly good and consistent pace. However, there are 4 or 5 riders who are fast and some are faster than I am. We still need to find a few tenths to have a little more peace of mind.”

Who are your rivals?
“Marquez and Iannone are the ones who, along with me, have the best pace, but Andrea will start from last place. It is still early to make predictions, but I feel competitive enough.”

Do the forecasts for rain worry you?
“At Assen it’s always a gamble. I prefer racing in the dry. We haven’t ridden many kilometres up to now with the Michelin rain tyres, so I’m not sure how competitive I could be. I’m sure the balance would change, although not radically.”

Couldn’t a wet race work in your favour to recover points in the championship?
“Only if you manage to put other riders between yourself and Marquez and Lorenzo (he laughs). I have 22 points to make up. The important thing is to be fast and we’ll draw up the sums at the end.”

Have you decided on the tyres?
“On the front, most likely the medium, but on the rear I’d say the hard solution, although the choices are still open. It will depend on the weather. If it doesn’t rain the circuit could rubberise and at that point the soft could also be an option.”

In the Barcelona tests you had tried a new frame. Which one are you using?
“I made a comparison today and I chose the standard one because it gives me a better feeling on the front. The new frame is better in a few respects, but it is not as stable.”

In this beginning stage of the season, how important is Cadalora’s help?
“At the beginning I didn’t know how much he would have helped me. It was something new for me. Luca seemed like the right person and I wanted to try it out. He has a lot of experience. His advice on trajectories is useful for me and he is also able to compare notes with Galbusera and Flamigni.”

The good and bad of Rossi's popularity

Valentino Rossi's superstardom has generated a fanatical following, with a sea of yellow dominating the grandstands at most MotoGP events. But such loyalty towards one man can have a dark side, as we saw on Rossi's home turf last weekend.

There's nothing unusual about crowds at race meetings being larger on a Sunday than a Saturday. That's the way it's been forever. But there is something unusual about that crowd building into and during Saturday evening, well after qualifying is done and dusted.

And there's nothing unusual about said crowds invading the track after a race, to get as close to the podium as possible. But, again, there is something unusual about the mob booing two thirds of the competitors on the podium.

About Mitchell Adam

Growing up in Australia, naturally, meant Mitchell Adam's first exposure to motorsport was watching the Bathurst 1000 as a youngster. When he started writing about the sport, freelance journalism and PR roles were followed by time with a leading communications agency and then three years with his home nation's industry-leading Motorsport News. 

Mitchell moved to the UK for its weather in 2012, and has followed the same professional pattern, spending time promoting the Autosport International show before joining the Autosport editorial team in early 2015.

MotoGP: Valentino Rossi suffering clutch troubles before crashing out of Grand Prix of The Americas

EVEN before he crashed out of the Grand Prix of The Americas, Valentino Rossi was already in a world of trouble.

Rossi’s streak of 24 consecutive race finishes came — quite literally — to a crashing halt in Austin, the front end of his Yamaha sliding out from underneath him as he raced through Turn 2 on only the third lap.

But his troubles hadn’t started there.

Rossi charged into second place through the first corner of the race, ranging up alongside eventual Marc Marquez as they rushed through Turn 2 for the first time.

But the Italian’s Yamaha was already in a bit of trouble.

“At the start unfortunately I burnt the clutch,” Rossi said.

“I was third but the clutch slipped a lot, so I had to go slow to try and recover the clutch and I lost some positions.”

By the end of the first lap Rossi had faded to sixth. He was in the same place at the end of the second, but was almost two seconds behind race leader Marquez.

He wouldn’t make it to the end of the third.

“I was not so far, I felt good with the bike, we worked well during the weekend and I felt fast,” he said.

“I had the feeling the clutch was coming back already but I entered turn two, I didn‘t feel from the bike I was too fast but looking at the result maybe I was ...”

Rossi took full blame for the mistake that caused the crash, saying this year’s Michelin tyres are much less forgiving than the Bridgestones they replaced.

“This year if you make a small mistake, you pay,” he told crash.net.

“Because at that corner I entered at the same speed, but have two bumps - maybe I was more inside and I lose the front. So you have to concentrate, be precise and try not to make any mistake in the race.

“When I understand [what had happened] already the bike was 30 metres or more in front of me!”

The Circuit of The Americas has never been a happy hunting ground for the Italian, who struggled in MotoGP’s first two visits to Austin before finishing on the podium last year.

This weekend marked the first time Rossi had qualified on the front row, and he had high hopes of once again making a post-race trip to the podium.

While he was uninjured physically, the same can’t be said for his title hopes.

Rossi built his 2015 campaign on relentless consistency, finishing every race inside the top five, leading the championship until the final day and only just falling short of a remarkable 10th title.

Instead, he leaves Austin on exactly half the points of fierce rival Marquez, 33 to the Spaniard’s 66.

“It’s a shame because we lost some points in the championship and also because we could make a good race,” he added.

“The positive side is that we are strong and very fast, so we will be ready for Jerez.”

The next round of the MotoGP World Championship is the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez on April 24.

Valentino Rossi jokes about Honda's bike data

HRC announced, at a press conference at Cheste, that the data would be released on Wednesday. It was hoped that Marc Márquez's team would finally provide the bike data which allegedly proved that Valentino Rossi had kicked the Spaniard's bike and caused him to fall at Sepang.

However, Wednesday came and went and there was no data: "Dorna has asked us not to disclose it and we don't want to add more fuel to the fire", came the response from HRC.

The situation gave Valentino Rossi a chance to hit out sarcastically at Honda with some light-hearted comments. "I was interested in seeing Honda's bike data. It's strange. How lovely. I'd like them to prove, with their data, that I kicked out. I'd like you all to ask them to release it. If not for the good of the sport, then…", he said chortling.