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Valentino Rossi reckons his “character” and experience are helping him to deal with Yamaha’s ongoing MotoGP issues better than team-mate Maverick Vinales.
Yamaha’s winless streak is now up to 22 races after last weekend’s Austria race, a slump caused mainly by the manufacturer’s electronics problems and its poor rear traction.
Rossi’s consistency means he is currently second in the standings – Sunday’s Red Bull Ring race marked the first time he failed to finish in the top five except for Argentina, when he was wiped out by Marc Marque, but he was still sixth and up from 14th on the grid.
But Vinales could only finish a lowly 12th, and is now 29 points behind Rossi in the standings.
Vinales’s season has also been affected by the fallout from the decision to split from crew chief Ramon Forcada at the end of 2018.
“For me, it’s a question of experience because I’ve gone through a lot of bad periods, more than Maverick, who is a lot younger than me,” said Rossi. “But it’s also character.”
But Rossi added he expected Vinales will return to winning ways once Yamaha’s bike improves.
“I’m sure that if the bike makes the step, Maverick can win the next race,” he added. “He did not lose [anything], he is not unable to ride anymore.
“He just needs a better bike and he can be more competitive.”
While Rossi admitted he did not have the pace to trouble the top four in Austria, he said he enjoyed fighting through the field from his worst starting spot since 2016.
“This weekend we suffered a lot, but I also enjoyed the race because I did a lot of overtaking – nobody overtook me,” he said.
“If I started a little bit higher up I could also have fought with Petrucci for the top five.
“Unfortunately, from [fourth place finisher Cal] Crutchlow they were faster than me, but I think that depends on the track.”