MotoGP: Rossi laughs off free practice mechanical

Valentino Rossi has laughed off a free practice one mechanical problem this morning, joking that the problem that saw him make an unusual return to the paddock was all a mechanic’s fault!

“My mechanic left his wallet in the airbox! We had a small problem, and the bike understood that something was wrong and stopped to save the engine. It was quite funny to be riding my M1 through he paddock! But in the end we only lost five minutes and it was all OK.”

And minor technical issues aside, Rossi was overall pleased with his day despite having some issues in the second half of he day at the team worked with Michelin’s new specification of front tyre.

“This morning at the end of practice it wasn’t so bad, I finished in second place. In the afternoon I had a problem, because we tried the harder tyres that are supposed to be the tyres for the race, but I didn‘t have grip and I wasn‘t fast enough.

“At the end I put in the soft and improved my lap time, but anyway the balance of the bike is not OK, I‘m not happy with the setting so we have to work and try to make it better.”