German MotoGP: Rossi: Motorcycle 'more like a girlfriend than a mum!'

Riders are often known to form a close boꦫnd with their machinery and, after qualifying eleventh on the grid for Sunday's German MotoGP, Valentino Rossi was asked what the status of his relationship is with the M1:

"I think that unfortunately the relationship with the bike is more like your girlfriend than with your mum!" smiled the I🧸talian.

"Usually your mum always says yes and is always ready to heꦛlp you.

"🐟With the girlfriend, it’s a bit more difficult. Sometimes it’s okay, sometimes it’s difficult to manage. So with the bike it’s a bit like this!

Rossi: Motorcycle 'more like a girlfriend than a mum!'

Riders are often known to form a close bond with their machinery and, after qualifying eleventh on the grid for Sunday's German MotoGP, Valentino Rossi was asked🅷 what the status of his relationship is with the M1:

"I think ♕that unfortunately the relationship with the bike is more like your girlfriend than with your mum!" sm✅iled the Italian.

"Usually your mum always says yes and is always rea❀dy to help you▨.

"With the girlfriend, it’s a bi꧑t more difficult. Sometimes it’s okay, sometimes it’s difficu🧔lt to manage. So with the bike it’s a bit like this!

"We improved a little today. The pace is quite good, but I’m not fantastic - so the 'relationship' is not fantastic! We have to wait and s𒉰ee tomorrow."

Looking to turn the page on three DNFs in a row, and a particularly miserable Asse𒁏n weekend, Rossi once again found himself taking part in Qualifying 1 at the Sachsenring.

Fortunately, unlike at Mug꧑ello and Assen, he passed safely through to Qualify🌼ing 2, despite a fall at the end of the session (pictured).

But Rossi was then almost one-second from 🗹the record pole lap of Marc Marquez, although eig𓂃hth place in final practice had been more encouraging.

"With the soft tyre I suffer. I’m not very fast in the hot lap. I was able to pass through to Q2 but unfortunatel💦y I did a small crash at the end of Q1," Rossi said. "I had a small vibration on the front and I lost the front. I don’t see the data but maybe I entered too fast.

"My team did a great job becaus💜e they recovered the #1 bike in a short time. But in the Q2 I was a bit more in trouble. I had a bit less speed. I have to start from the fourth row which is always difficult, especially at this track. But we’ll see.

"I have a better feeling than Assen. In the pace I am a bit stronger. We modify something in the bike and we improve a bit. We’ll try tomorrow. Also it looks like the conditions will be very different tomorrow, so we need to see if it will𝄹 be wet, dry, hot, cold.

"Then there is the tyre choice. Wiཧth less temperature, a lot changꦉes..."

Team-mate Maverick Vinales, wಞho claimed Yamaha's first win of the season last time 💮at Assen, qualified third behind Marquez and the satellite M1 of rookie Fabio Quartararo.

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