AmericasGP, Rossi: “They’re crazy in Moto3, the situation is out of control”

Valentino Rossi finished the latest race in Austin in fifteenth place. Not a fantastic result but one that at least allowed the Doctor to score one championship point.

Rossi: “A decent result considering my speed”

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“It was one of the hardest races of my career physically-speaking. This track is really demanding, there’s a lot of hard braking, changes of direction, potholes and it was very hot too”, commented the Italian. “My race was decent, I put in the medium rear tyre which allowed me to be consistent and make a few passes. I didn’t really like the soft, I tried it during warm-up but we did the right thing to choose the medium.”

“Today’s MotoGP is very tough, you’re already tired on Sunday after the Friday and Saturday sessions. You have to be really fit and young, we’ll try to train more but the ‘being young’ aspect is difficult for me (he laughs)”.

“Oncu? Missing two races is the very least”

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Valentino went on to comment on the terrible accident in Moto3 that also involved his rider, Andrea Migno.

According to Rossi, the penalty Oncu received (he will miss two races) is correct: “I think it’s right, the very least in fact. Race Direction must do something right away because the situation is out of control. Restarting the Moto3 race with just five laps available is like playing Russian roulette”.

“Oncu veered along the straight causing a potentially fatal accident. It really shook me up and Migno and Acosta suffered a real blow. You need to respect your own safety and that of your rivals”.

Rossi then criticised Race Direction’s decision to restart the race: “A five-lap sprint was dangerous. It would have been better to try and move Salac right away without bringing out the red flag. Definitely the wrong thing to do, but the worst thing is the riders’ behaviour. From when they’re very young, they’re taught to try and hinder their rival and what happened today was dramatic. They’re crazy, you can’t change trajectory along the straight like that”.

“Punishing the guy who messing up, by leaving him at home, is correct, because he’ll think twice about doing a similar thing in the future. I’d also add that the dangerous riders are always the same guys. The stewards should also deal with this, educating those who go too far”.

Translated by Heather Watson

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