MotoGP news

Rossi hoping for dry race

Fiat Yamaha team rider Valentino Rossi qualified second in Brno today, despite a soaking wet day at the Czech track as the MotoGP rain curse struck once again. Tomorrow will be the Italian's seventh front-row start of the season and he will once again share it with Casey Stoner, who qualified on pole today.

After heavy rain overnight this morning's practice was run on a damp track, with Rossi finishing the session in fifth. From then on the weather worsened and the best laps of the afternoon qualifying session were done in the first half, before too much standing water gathered on the track and the conditions deteriorated even more. Rossi's Bridgestone rain tyres worked well and he was able to set some consistent laps early on, good enough to secure him the all-important front row spot. The forecast for tomorrow is mixed but the 29-year-old is confident that he will be in good shape to fight at the front, come rain or shine. 

"I hope that we are in good shape for tomorrow, if it's wet or dry," said Rossi. "For sure though, like everyone else, I hope it will be dry because the conditions today were really terrible! After twenty minutes this afternoon there was too much water and it was impossible to improve the setting of the bike or the time, so I am glad I was able to do some good laps at the beginning. I think I can be more competitive in the dry, because also we have a few modifications to try, so hopefully it will be dry all day tomorrow to give us the best chance. Let's keep hoping and see how we go!"

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