Rossi: Podium finish “impossible” from back of the grid

MotoGP title contender Valentino Rossi has said it’s “impossible” for him to finish on the podium in the championship-deciding finale at Valencia from his enforced back-of-the-grid start.

Rossi, who shrugged off his crash in qualifying on Saturday afternoon, believes that fourth is the best position he can achieve on Sunday.

When asked by BT Sport where he thinks he can finish, Rossi replied: “Difficult to say. I think, starting from last, the first three are quite impossible.

“I think we are seven, eight bikes fighting for fourth position. It depends on my speed, it depends on how much I can recover and also what happens in the first laps.”

If Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo wins from pole tomorrow, Rossi would have to finish second to clinch the crown.

“Struggling” with higher temperatures

Rossi, who is going for his eighth MotoGP crown on Sunday and has a seven-point lead over Lorenzo, has admitted that he struggled for pace in qualifying as the track temperatures rose.

“Unfortunately this afternoon we struggled more than this morning, when I was not so bad,” said Rossi. “In the afternoon, with [higher] temperature, I struggled a little bit more with the grip and it was difficult for me to make the laptime.

“In qualifying I didn’t have any pressure, so we tried different settings to understand, but I don’t like [them], so we decided to go back out and make one lap, and I was not so bad in the first two sectors, I was quite fast.

“Unfortunately I made a mistake and I crashed, but this doesn’t make a bit of difference for tomorrow anyway, because I start last.”