Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi was in contention for a potential MotoGP race win, until he succumbed to the wet track conditions at Assen and crashed out unhurt, in what he has labelled as a ‘stupid mistake.’
The Doctor said the crash was a ‘great shame’ and tried to get back on to his M1, but to no avail and he has now racked up his third DNF of the season. Before the tumble the Italian showed that he had a good pace in both the wet and the dry, and looked competitive when heavy rain showers fell on to the Dutch track.
The race was eventually red flagged because of a heavy rain shower, and a quick twelve lapper restart was decided by race officials. Rossi did start the race with a wet harder rear, and soft front tyre compounds, but after the red flag opted for both softer options for the shorter race distance.
After the restart Rossi was propelled into the lead when Dovizioso crashed, but while Rossi was in the frame for back-to-back wins he fell at Mandeveen after going into the corner too fast on his new tyres. With Rossi’s zero points haul it paved the way for Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez to extend his lead in the championship, with the Yamaha man 42 points adrift of his rival.
Rossi’s team-mate Jorge Lorenzo appeared to have struggled all weekend, but mustered up a tenth place finish and remains second in the overall standings, with Rossi staying in third.
“It is a great shame because today was a good chance to make a good win and take some important points for the championship. On the dry I had a good pace and a good speed but also on the wet I was not so bad,” said Rossi at the track.
“It was for sure a very difficult race. The first part was very bad conditions and it was right to give the red flag because the amount of water was too much and it started to be very difficult because the bike started to have a lot of aqua plane and you start to see nothing.
“On the first part of the race I felt good and I had a good pace, and for the second part we put a soft tyre on the rear and I feel even better. I tried to push and I had a good start and I tried to go fast because with the soft rear I had a lot more grip.
“I was too fast and I pushed too hard and was a stupid mistake, and I am very sorry for me and all the guys as today we could win and it is important in Assen to take some points for the championship.
“We put in the soft (rear tyre) in the second part (of the race) and on turn nine I was much faster because I could open the throttle earlier and I arrived at turn ten and I braked at the same points but I went four or five kilometres faster and I lose the front.
“For sure today was difficult condition’s and it was very easy to make a mistake and a lot of riders who pushed at 100 percent made a mistake. I am very sorry because it was my mistake. I made a mistake in an important moment, and I pushed too hard. When you lose a race like this it is a shame.”
