When every rider on the grid opted to go with rain tires in Saturday, June 28th Moto GP race in Assen, Movistar Yamaha Moto GP’s Valentino Rossi decided to go with slick tires. However, the gamble did not pay off and eventually Rossi had to switch his bike in the last phase of the race. As a result, the doctor had to start from the pit lane. Still he managed to surpass most of the trailing bikes without wasting much time.
Valentino was not the only rider, who switched his bike as the tricky weather also forced other riders to switch their bikes when the track began to dry after rain. That forced Rossi to visit the pits for the second time during the race, but after that he made a strong come back and end up crossing the finishing line in the fifth place.
Yet it was not a very convincing finish from Rossi, who had done far better in the previous rounds of the 2014 Moto GP season. Moreover, the poor performance of Yamaha’s star rider allowed Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa to improve his position in the overall standings. The two premier class riders now jointly sharethe second position in the world championship with 128 points.
Talking about his strategy in the race, Rossi said that he took the risk because conditions were looking good before the competition but unluckily just when the race was about to start, it started to drizzle again. As a result, he had to switch his bike and start from the last, said Valentino. According to Rossi it was pretty shameful because if he had opted for the rain tires he could have been among the leading riders of the race.
Adding to it, Rossi said that it had to do with his luck otherwise it would not have ended up like this. Other than that Rossi was pretty much satisfied with his performance in the race as he achieved good pace and felt great with the bike too. So in spite of making a wrong selection of tires in Assen, the Italian rider looked positive.
After eight races, Dani and Rossi are 72 points behind reigning Moto GP champion Marc Marquez, who is in full swing at the moment. Now it remains to be seen whether Rossi will allow Pedrosa to outshine him in the next round and gain full control of the second position in the standings.
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