Rossi: a half second from paradise

He is still missing a half second. It's less than he needed when the season started, but still to much to hope that races like Le Mans can happen on a regular basis and without the help of rain. For now it's better not to worry about Stoner, Lorenzo and Pedrosa, and instead concentrate on the more reachable Hayden and Bradl, who will start tomorrow' race just in front of Valentino Rossi. Indeed, the Italian rider knows that 5 tenths is quite a lot in the world of MotoGP racing: "I'm not expecting such a big step forward in the short term. Our biggest problem, the difficulty on corner entry, we still aren't sure how to resolve. In the meantime we can work on some other details like electronics and power delivery, but taking big steps forward is difficult. We will keep trying though, and there are still many tests and races left to do. We already improved on our performance from yesterday, and today's qualifying session didn't go too bad. I stopped using the new aluminum swingarm because we wanted to eliminate one unknown. There will be time on Monday and Wednesday to test it better, and that factored into my decision. It provides a slight advantage, but we need to find a different setup for it."

One less distraction, and a spot on the third row: "which was our objective - Rossi continued - usually I can make up a few spots from there, and I hope that's the case tomorrow. Maybe I can have a race like the one at Estoril, and aim for seventh place. The top six are still too far away. Perhaps Dovizioso and Crutchlow are a little closer on overall race pace, but they are faster in the first few laps, and if they open a gap it will be hard to catch them. I still haven't decided which front and rear tires I will use. The performance of the new front, the 33, is similar to that of the old, and both have their strengths and weaknesses. On the rear I'd say I'm leaning toward the soft, because it's easier to control when it starts sliding. A lot will also depend on the temperature. Our bike is better in cooler weather, and some clouds will certainly make us faster. Some rain could help, but every race is different so you can't say for sure. If it rains, it would be ideal to have a wet warm-up session as well, but I think tomorrow will be dry."

And while the Barcelona air was certainly hot on Saturday, Valentino did his best to cool down any talk about next year. "It's still early - the Italian added - For now I haven't made the slightest move. There are still many races to run before deciding what to do, and right now I'm only focused on improving the Ducati." There is also the possibility that his salary might not be at the same level he has become accustomed to. "I don't think that's a big problem. If I get paid less, I'll adapt. I've made a lot in the past, so I'd say there's some margin there."

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