Rossi eyes home win to make up for Le Mans disaster
Added on Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Rossi eyes home win to make up for Le Mans disaster
World champion Valentino Rossi admits that he needs a strong result at his home circuit following the debacle at Le Mans two weeks ago.
Rossi heads to his home circuit in Mugello this weekend looking to get his title defence back on track following a nightmare Grand Prix in France which saw him leave without a single championship point.
The Italian was caught out by the wet conditions and the decision to make an early tyre change at Le Mans a fortnight ago, crashing out on his first lap on slicks to push him to the back of the field.
Three further trips to the pits, including a ride-through penalty for speeding during an earlier incursion into the pit lane, meant that Rossi finished a full two laps behind teammate and race winner Jorge Lorenzo to lose his lead in the rider’s standings.
Rossi is one of five rider’s making his “home” return at Mugello but the30-year-old is the hot favourite to redress Round Four’s disappointing result.
“Racing at Mugello is something incredible for me,” he claimed, “but every year it gets more difficult to keep my record going and seven wins in a row is already a lot!
“I do feel pressure going there, but at the same time it is always amazing and the fans give me an extra motivation that helps me to perform in a different way there. I hope it’s the same again this year, because after Le Mans I really need a good result!
“It was disappointing but everyone has the occasional bad day and that was ours. Everything possible went wrong but hopefully that is all our bad luck for now and this time, at our home race, we will be back to our best.
“I always look forward to this race; it’s very busy for me but I have so many amazing memories. Let’s hope to create some more this weekend.”
