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2014 MotoGP: Valentino Rossi Receives All-New Chassis, Says It's Not Bad

Valentino Rossi has received an all-new frame for the Gran Premio bwin de Espana round, and after two consistent 4th placements in the first two Free Practice sessions yesterday, the early verdict is “not bad”.
Valentino Rossi at Jerez 2014 3 photos
Photo: motogp.com
Valentino Rossi at Jerez 2014Valentino Rossi at Jerez 2014
Now, this has nothing to do with the power the “not bad” internet meme has. Rossi has ridden the new chassis and has not found surprising differences from the former one, but the slight improvements might provide him with a better bike in the end.

During the 2013 season, Rossi struggled with his new M1 bike, and save for several noticeable moments, it was obvious for everybody that the machine was not what he thought it would be. While everybody expected a spectacular comeback aboard Yamaha machinery, Rossi’s first year back with the house of Iwata left a lot to be desired.

Rossi himself declared that he finally understood that during his 2-year absence, Yamaha had tailored the bike according to Lorenzo’s riding style… and they would not make a “new” bike for him. A smart rider nonetheless, Rossi knew it was time to adapt his style to the current M1, even though stability during braking was a huge issue.

The first official outings at Jerez de la Frontera proved that Yamaha and Rossi are closer to finding which way to go as far as the bike development is concerned, even though the high temperatures of the track (reaching 53 C or 127 F) are not helping too much. Rossi says his bike still drifts excessively through the turns and makes the job hard for him.

Still, after improving his lap times in FP2 from a .810 to a .368 gap behind the leading riders of the two sessions, it looks like Valentino Rossi and his mechanics may find a way to make the bike more stable. And this means, obviously, more intense racing, which is good!

"We tried a different chassis today, especially to try to improve braking stability and the first impression is not so bad, it's just a small step to understand what path to take. The track is very fat and temperatures high, we encounter difficulties with the front tire or the rear one at times. It is difficult to control a bike that slides a lot. Compared to other top drivers, the pace is not so bad, which means that overall, we have worked well so far and this is how we must continue," Rossi adds.

Via gp-inside
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