Fenati: What happened in Austria was not a big problem
Speaking soon after his first grand prix win since his spectacular sacking from the Sky VR46 Moto3 team, Romano Fenati refused to be drawn into an explanation of the incident that occurred at the Austrian Grand Prix last June, stating he now understands life is to be lived "day-by-day."
The controversial Italian was in a philosophical mood on Sunday, insisting the incident that led to his removal from the VR46 structure was "not a big problem" when compared to the devastation caused by an earthquake in his home town of Ascoli Piceno last August.
Despite sitting third in the Moto3 world championship at the season's half-way point, Fenati was sensationally forced to sit out the second half of 2016 due to an altercation with a member of his team.
He has since joined up with the Rivacold Snipers Honda team for the '17 season, and placed a competitive fifth in Qatar and a less impressive seventh in Argentina before his victorious weekend in the USA.
Asked how his victory felt after the drama of a year ago, Fenati said, "In Austria it was not a big problem. After, the earthquake destroyed all my city. This is a [real] problem of the life. My life changed because [now] I understand it is important [to live your] life day-by-day. This is one thing."
Having started the first running of the Moto3 race in fairly subdued fashion, Fenati immediately showed signs of his old form during the restart, as he pressured pole sitter and pre-race favourite Aron Canet into a costly mistake.
With Canet crashing out of the action on the fourth lap, Fenati eased to a 4.5 second victory which saw him jump to fourth place in the world championship standings, just 13 points back of early leader Joan Mir.
"The race was perfect," he said of the Texan encounter. "The restart helped me to start from the grid better. the new tyre in the front helped me to push a bit more in braking. I'm happy. Now there is Jerez - a difficult race. The track surface is always slippy. We will see.
"The restart helped me. Aron was very, very fast, especially in the last two sectors. I tried to stay behind him but it was difficult. After he made a mistake. This for sure helped me to win.
"Maybe in the last lap there [would have been] a big battle, a big fight, but I don't know. Aron was really fast here in Texas and now we will see in Jerez. If he's fast like here, it's a big problem."
And what was the main difference in the restarted race? "The clutch," he joked. "I think it was better in the second restart. Nothing more. In turn one I was more in front and it was easier. Only this."
Asked what had allowed him to fight for victory in Austin, when he had failed to do so in the opening two races, Fenati pointed to an improvement in stability of the rear of his bike, which allowed him to conserve energy as the encounter wore on.
"We improve a lot the braking because in Qatar I was strong but only when I was alone. If I stayed with another rider, I can't brake hard because the rear was always sliding. It's more tiring.
"It was impossible to go inside [other riders] with slide. We tried to improve a little bit the braking so it's more strong in the fight. In Qatar my maximum speed was less than other riders. We worked a little bit on the exit from the corner."
