Mamola column: Can Rossi really beat Vinales and Marquez?

Who would have thought a couple of months ago that Valentino Rossi would arrive in Jerez leading the MotoGP standings? Not me, evidently. Especially after how his pre-season went and how much he suffered to adapt to the 2017 Yamaha, with which he still doesn't feel fully comfortable, unlike Maverick Vinales.

However, leading the championship despite not being quickest is something typical of a genius like him, a rider capable of making up for the logical lack of stamina of someone who is on his way to 40 with the experience he had accumulated during the past 20 years.

In the two decades that he has been racing, leaving his titles aside, Rossi has also been in a lot of situations that help him read the championship better than anyone.

Rossi is maximising all the resources he has and is getting closer and closer to Vinales and Marc Marquez, the two riders who, in theory, should be fighting for the title. In Qatar, the Italian finished third, less than two seconds behind Maverick; in Argentina he was second, 1.9 seconds behind Vinales; and in Austin (second) it was three seconds that separated him from Marquez.

That gives us an indication of how close he is to a victory that, why not, could come this weekend at Jerez, like it did last season.

In any case, if there's something that's clear following the first three races, it is that the championship will be decided by consistency, and that's where Il Dottore shines. What I mean to say is that nobody knows how to settle for second, third or fourth better than him, if he knows he can't win.

Obviously, if he feels confident enough to try, don't doubt for a second that he will go for it. Especially because if Rossi wants to win this 10th title he is so keen on securing, he will have to win some races - his rivals certainly will.

Despite being 38, the rider from Tavullia is still fine-tuning strategies because his motivation is close to the maximum. While Marc and Maverick go all out for victory on Sundays, Rossi is aware that he can't have the same approach yet.

That's the big question Rossi is facing right now, knowing that he is not fast enough to fight for first place against the two most in-form riders, but aware that in order to secure the 10th title he so desires he will need to be able to win sooner or later.

In front of him there's two youngsters who make fewer mistakes every time. Marquez already showed last year that he can have a more conservative approach when needed, and Vinales is that kind of rider who makes very few mistakes. It's true that he crashed two weeks ago in Austin, but I'm convinced that he probably won't make the same mistake again.

And when it comes to extracting every bit from every situation, the master is that #46, someone capable of emerging from such a delicate situation like the one he was in during pre-season, turning things around and scoring more points than the two favourites for the championship. That's Valentino at his best, so let's enjoy him while we can.