INDIA in F1

Tag: Valentino Rossi

  • Dovi wins; Vinales & Rossi take 2nd and 3rd: British GP

    Silverstone, 27 Aug 2017: As the lights changed to signal go, Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) – making his 300th MotoGP performance today – grasped the lead from the start from pole-setter Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) in the Octo British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday.

    The Italian then led for the next 17-laps as an ever-changing and evolving battle took place behind him, with Marquez, Dovizioso, Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) and Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) wrestling for positions.  The relentless pace of all riders was evident as the lap-record was broken several times in the early stages, before Marquez set a new benchmark on lap-10. This achievement added to his stunning pole-lap on Saturday which eclipsed the previous best and saw a motorcycle travel around the 5.9km English circuit in under two-minutes for the first time in history, both highlighting the incredible grip produced from the Michelin tyres over the bumpy surface. Marquez can take consolation from these successes as his race was to draw to a premature end as an issue with his bike saw him retire on lap-14.

    As Rossi – using the hard front and rear pairing – started lap-18 he came under pressure from Dovizioso – using the same selection as Rossi – and the hard-charging Ducati man seized his opportunity and took the lead, a position he held onto until the chequered flag, despite coming under pressure from Viñales after he had passed Rossi in the closing stages – the Spaniard having paired a hard front MICHELIN Power Slick with a soft rear. Dovizioso scored his fourth victory of the season and moved to the head of the championship, following an event which saw Michelin and the Italian set another new record, as the race duration time was beaten by over six-seconds.

    As the British crowd witnessed an exciting race and a one-two-three of Dovizioso, Viñales and Rossi, they were given even extra cause for celebration as local-hero Crutchlow finished fourth and took the title of First Independent Racer. Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) was the next over the line, ahead of Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) in sixth. Seventh place went to Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team), with Scott Redding (OCTO Pramac Racing) taking eighth. Alex Rins (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR) scored his best result of the season as he took ninth, with Alvaro Bautista (Pull&Bear Aspar Team) marking his 250th Grand Prix appearance with tenth place and the honour of the fastest recorded speed of the weekend.

    Today’s race was watched at trackside by more than 56,000 spectators and they basked in the glorious English weather as air temperatures rose to 25°C and the track moved up to 40°C with very little wind, making conditions almost perfect to produce yet another exciting instalment of this year’s championship. Victory for Dovizioso moved him to the top of the standings, but with a third of the season still to go and the top-five separated by just 35-points, the championship is still very much in the balance.

    Michelin and the MotoGP paddock now heads to the Adriatic Coastline of Italy for the San Marino and Riviera di Rimini Grand Prix at Misano on Sunday 10th September, where another episode of this enthralling 2017 season is sure to unfold.

    Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team:

    “This race was very strange, because it felt like we could not push as hard as we did in the practice, because we wanted to save the tyres so we could all arrive in a good shape at the end. That was the key for me because at the end I had a really good grip. The race was really fast and felt good, it was great fun to ride in and race with the other guys. The front tyre worked well and I felt very comfortable throughout the race with the Michelin tyres and am really pleased with this victory.”

    Nicolas Goubert – Deputy Director, Technical Director and Supervisor of the MotoGP Programme:

    “We have obviously got to be very pleased with everything we have achieved this weekend here at Silverstone. It is a long, fast track and very bumpy, so to have the times we did right from the start on Friday was encouraging. On Saturday, the morning session started damp, but the riders used the slicks to good effect, which gave them had lots of grip and again set some very competitive times. The qualifying was a huge confirmation of what we had tried to accomplish here this weekend as we saw Marc Marquez go under two minutes and give us the fastest lap on a motorcycle ever seen here. This showed the potential for fast times and that was again emphasised in the race as both the race lap record and race duration record – by five riders – were both broken. This is a great result for us and it again emphasised the choice we are giving the riders, as the first guy was on a hard rear and the second placed one was on a soft rear. The other encouraging aspect was the consistency and durability of the tyres as we witnessed no significant drop  in lap-times and the riders were pushing very hard as the race drew to a close. Congratulations to Andrea Dovizioso on his fourth victory this year, the title is still wide open and we at Michelin are glad that we have an important role in giving the riders the tyres they need to make this year’s championship the closest and most exciting it can be.”

    eom/Michelin press release

  • Marquez takes pole with fastest lap ever at Silverstone; Rossi P2

    Marquez takes pole with fastest lap ever at Silverstone; Rossi P2

    Marquez takes pole at Silverstone on Saturday. A Repsol Honda image

    Silverstone, 26 Aug 2017: Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez took a record-breaking pole position for tomorrow’s British Grand Prix with a 1’59.941” lap, an astonishing performance that made him the only rider in MotoGP history to lap under the two-minute barrier at the Silverstone track.

    Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi scored second position on the grid teammate Maverick Viñales took fourth place.

    Marc’s fourth pole in a row and his sixth this season also extended his all-time record to an incredible tally of 71 poles across all classes. The Championship leader will be joined on the front row by Valentino Rossi in second place and by fellow Honda rider Cal Crutchlow, who qualified in third at his home track.

    It was also a positive qualifying for Dani Pedrosa, who overcame the difficulties posed by Silverstone’s bumpy asphalt to advance into Q2 from Q1, and to ultimately record the seventh-fastest lap time, just 6 thousandths of a second off a second-row start.

    The MotoGP British GP will start tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. local time.

    eom/Repsol Honda press release

  • Ducati’s Dovizioso wins MotoGP; Marquez 2nd, Rossi 7th

    Ducati’s Dovizioso wins MotoGP; Marquez 2nd, Rossi 7th

    Spielberg, 13 Aug 2017:  AndreaDovizioso of Ducati produced his best to win a thrilling MotoGP race that produced seat-edged excitement for the 90,400-odd fans at the Red Bull ring for the 11 round of the Motorcycle World Championship here on Sunday.

    Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa scored the third consecutive double podium finish and the sixth of the season out of 11 races as Marquez finished second and Pedrosa followed in third. Valentino Rossi, who was fourth at one point of time, had to settle for 7th as he made a costly mistake and went wide on one of the laps. Rossi’s teammate Maverick Vinales finished ahead of him in sixth.

    With pole-setter Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) slow off the blocks, Lorenzo got the hole-shot and led for the first 11-circulations of the 28-lap race around the 4,318m Austrian circuit, before Marquez took the lead on lap-12. The reigning champion tried to make a break, but was followed closely by Dovizioso, who was using the medium front and soft rear combination on his Ducati.

    After an epic battle with Dovizioso that lasted until the last corner, Marc was edged by the Italian at the finish line by just 0.176”. Teammate Pedrosa completed the podium, recovering from eighth on the grid to gain 16 valuable points in the standings.

    The two combatants then produced an incredible last few laps as they changed places numerous times. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) briefly joined in the fight at the front, but was unable to stay with Dovizioso and Marquez as the race continued, leaving the championship contenders to battle it out at the front. The two had different tyre compound choices from either end of the spectrum on the rear of their respective bikes, but grip, performance and durability never looked an issue for either man as they started the last-lap. Dovizioso led as the race approached the last corner, but Marquez made an audacious and exciting attempt to pass, using all the grip he could find and as much of the track as he could use, but he just couldn’t get the better of the Italian and Dovizioso crossed the line a mere one-tenth-of-a-second ahead of his rival – setting a new race duration record in the process. Marquez’s second place strengthened his championship lead, with Dovizioso now his closest rival, just 16-points behind.

    Starting the race from seventh on the grid, Rossi slotted into fifth place storming towards turn 1, and quickly fought his way to fourth past his teammate. He withstood the pressure Viñales put on him in the opening laps, as he chased the leading trio.

    The Doctor reached the back of Marc Marquez‘s bike on lap eight, bringing Zarco with him, but encountered a set-back. A block pass from the fellow Yamaha rider pushed the Italian back to sixth behind the chasing Dani Pedrosa. Running wide in turn 1, with 15 laps to go, Rossi soon fell back behind Viñales to seventh. He was eager to follow his teammate, but was unable to keep up a consistent pace in the high 1‘24s and low 1‘25s, and decided to focus on bringing home his bike in seventh place, 8.995s from first.

    eom/Team press releases with inputs from Miche

    Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA
    Ducati Team
    DUCATI
    MotoGP
    GP Austria 2017 (Circuit RedBull Ring)
    11-13.08.2017
    photo: MICHELIN

    lin

  • Marquez takes fifth pole; Dovi P2; Rossi P7: MotoGP

    Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez scored his fifth pole position of the year (and third successive), extending his record of most pole positions in Grand Prix history across all classes to an amazing tally of 70, at only 24 years of age.

    Dovizioso and Lorenzo of Ducati will start in P2 and P3 respectively.

    Marc has been happy with his RC213V’s behaviour since Friday morning and improved his feeling with the bike over the weekend by continuing the good work with his crew and engineers. Today he set the fastest times in FP3, FP4, and QP2, showing a good race pace and dazzling speed. Dani Pedrosa finished in P8.

    The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team barrelled their way into the Q2 session in this morning’s FP3 and followed it up with a hard fight in the afternoon for front row at the Nero Giardini Motorrad Grand Prix von Ostrich. Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi were serious contenders for a top-3 finish until the times dropped at the end of the session, and they secured fourth and seventh place respectively.

    The afternoon in Austria presented good weather conditions today for a high octane shoot-out at the Red Bull Ring – Spielberg circuit. Viñales was the third to last rider to exit pit lane in a dry qualifying, waiting for the majority of the pack to go out. Despite a small mistake on his first hot lap, he set a 1’25.067s to take second in the provisional standings. With his next attempt he temporarily took over the top spot, but was pushed back to fourth place when the pace quickened. His fourth lap shot him back up to third before he entered the pits with more than six minutes remaining.

    The youngster was quickly back on track to have another crack at challenging the competition. Now in fourth place again, he put his head down and jumped to third in the charts, with a 1’23.754s. He was unable to improve on his last lap, but his best time was fast enough to secure fourth place on the grid, on the second row, 0.519s from first.

    Rossi took his time to leave the pits for the qualifying session. He got straight down to business, scoring a temporary pole position on his first flying lap with a 1’24.558s, before being pushed back one place. The next minutes saw various riders claim the top spot in the rankings. The Doctor responded by improving his time on his second and third attempt, but was in fourth position when he entered the pits with seven minutes on the clock.

    The Italian rushed back out a little more than a minute later, and found himself in seventh place. He broke into the 1’23’s with a 1’23.982s to move up to fifth. There was time for one more attack, but he didn‘t improve on his best lap. He was pushed back by a late charge from a rival after the chequered flag went out, leaving him seventh in the results, 0.747s from the front.

    Marc Marquez

    POLE POSITION  1’23.235

    “I’m very, very happy with his pole because here it’s very important for the first corner, and because so far we’ve done much better than last year. We’ve really taken a good step forward with the bike; we already had a good engine, but we were struggling with some wheelying. We worked a lot on this aspect and now I feel much more comfortable with my bike. We also prepared very well for this race. During the Monday post-race test in Brno, we tried many different configurations focused on this track, and that allowed us to start with a good base even on Friday morning. So at the moment it looks like our pace is very good, but as always, it’s the race that counts. We’ll try to give everything again, but it will be very important to choose the right rear tyre. Today we worked with the soft and hard rears, so we’ll probably try the medium in tomorrow’s warm-up and then make our choice.”

    eom/Repsol Honda and Movistar Yamaha press releases

     

     

  • Marquez storms to pole in sunny Brno, Rossi takes P2

    Marquez storms to pole in sunny Brno, Rossi takes P2

    Rossi, who was so pleased with his P2 celebrates after qualification on Saturday. A Movistar Yamaha image

    On a sunny and hot second day at Brno, Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez claimed a stunning pole position for tomorrow’s Czech Grand Prix, his fourth this season and the 69th of his career.

    Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi came out swinging on a sunny second day at the Automotodrom Brno, taking second place.

    Dani Pedrosa was a close third, a mere 0.046” behind Valentino Rossi in second and just 0.138” off his teammate.

    Maverick Viñales had a more challenging outing in the Q2 session, but pushed hard to secure seventh position on tomorrow‘s starting grid.

    Both Marc and Dani had already displayed a fast pace in the FP3 session, taking P1 and P2 respectively despite suffering a crash each in the early stages, Marc going down at turn 10 because of an oil spill from another rider’s bike and Dani sliding out at turn 8 while pushing hard.

    With the weather forecast a bit uncertain for tomorrow’s 2 p.m. race start, both Marc and Dani are confident that they’ll be ready no matter the conditions.

    Movistar Yamaha MotoGP‘s Valentino Rossi scored a front row position today in a hot qualifying session, ahead of tomorrow‘s Monster Energy Grand Prix České republiky, securing second place. Maverick Viñales was on the pace, but struggled to find those all-important tenths in the second sector, ending the session in seventh position.

    Rossi had already shown he was comfortable on his Yamaha YZR-M1 in the morning practice session and felt he was up to the task to challenge his rivals for a position on the front row. The Doctor left pit lane mid-field and quickly found a good place on track to start his first flying lap, claiming fourth on his first attempt. Unable to improve on his second try, he returned to the box with six and a half minutes remaining.

    He was pushed down to fifth place, but this was short-lived, as Jorge Lorenzo‘s time was cancelled due to exceeding track limits. One and a half minutes later, Rossi was back out for his second run and, as many riders flashed red sectors, the nine-time World Champion responded brilliantly. He set a 1‘55.073s, 0.092s from pole, on his third time attack, and will start tomorrow’s race from second place on the front row.

    eom/Repsol Honda and Movistar Yamaha releases

     

  • Marquez takes pole; Rossi 9th

    Marc Marquez took his sixty-eight pole position in career and his eighth in a row at the Sachsenring today (his fifth there in MotoGP), with Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa joining him on the front row in third place.

    Qualifying day at the German GP dawned without rain, but FP3 was the only MotoGP session today to be completed in totally dry conditions. Marc was fastest in that session with Dani ninth, both securing spots in Q2.

    FP4 saw the Repsol Honda pair displaying an impressive pace before rain started falling 10 minutes from the end, when Marc was leading the way in first and Dani just behind in second.

    Movistar Yamaha

    Q2 shoot-out saw Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales secure ninth and eleventh place on the grid for tomorrow‘s GoPro Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland.

    After a brilliant FP3 from Rossi, during which he advanced straight into Q2, the Italian was eager to continue making strides in the afternoon qualifying session. He was one of the first riders out of the pit box and left a competitive impression as his first try initially lifted him to fifth place. He was quick to better his time on his next flying lap, but it didn‘t improve his ranking.

    Unable to significantly climb the ranks also on his next three attempts, the Doctor decided it was time to change tactics. He returned to the pit box with less than four minutes to go for a tyre swap, opting for the soft front / medium rear combination. A quick minute later he headed back out for his second run and his tyre choice proved to be the right decision for the drying track conditions. He had time for one lap and stepped up his pace on his final try. He set a 1’28.669s to claim ninth position on the grid, 1.367s from first.

    Teammate Viñales displayed his confidence in today‘s dry morning free practice session but struggled to reproduce the results in the afternoon in the wet Q2 session. He went straight into action as soon as the green light signalled the start of the 15-minute time attack and slotted into fourth place. He improved his time but not his position on his next lap and was looking to keep the momentum going, but lost valuable seconds as he got involved in a small collision with Marc Marquez.

    Despite the incident, the Yamaha rider tried to quickly get back into a good rhythm and, though he continued to struggle to get a feel for the wet conditions, he dug deep and climbed back up from twelfth to ninth, dipping under the 1’29 mark with a 1’28.823s. He had three more attempts at beating his personal best time, but was unable to improve and ended the day in 11th place, 1.521s from the front.

    Marc Marquez

    “When I saw that it was going to be a wet qualifying session, I set a front-row position as my target. Anyway, I’ve felt very good on the bike since the beginning and I saw that the rain was easing off, so I tried to find a good rhythm as I prepared to attack in the final stages. Halfway into the session there was a bit of confusion with Maverick. In qualifying everyone pushes a lot and there was some contact, but luckily nothing happened. In the end I was able to do a very good lap and I’m quite happy with that, as it’s always very difficult to manage in the rain. Now we just need to focus on the race, which will be tough as there are many fast riders with a good pace, starting with my teammate! It seems that it won’t rain, but whatever conditions we find, it will be okay, as we have a really good pace both in the dry and in the wet.”

    Valentino Rossi

    It‘s been a difficult weekend so far. It happened a lot of times this year: the feeling with the bike and especially with the tyres changed a lot from one track to the other. This makes it always a big surprise, sometimes positive, sometimes negative. In the dry I’m not so bad, it’s nothing fantastic, but my pace is not so far from the front, but unfortunately in the wet I suffer more. It looks like all the Yamahas, except Folger who isn’t so bad, suffer in the wet. We didn’t expect it, because last week in Assen I was competitive in the wet, but it looks like this time it’s more difficult, so we need to try some modification for tomorrow and try to be stronger.

    Results Session

    Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Time/Gap
    1 MARQUEZ Marc 93 SPA Repsol Honda Team 1’27.302
    2 PETRUCCI Danilo 9 ITA Octo Pramac Racing 1’27.462
    3 PEDROSA Dani 26 SPA Repsol Honda Team 1’27.949
    4 CRUTCHLOW Cal 35 GBR LCR Honda 1’28.089
    5 FOLGER Jonas 94 GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’28.210
    6 LORENZO Jorge 99 SPA Ducati Team 1’28.383
    7 ESPARGARO Pol 44 SPA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1’28.402
    8 ESPARGARO Aleix 41 SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1’28.526
    9 ROSSI Valentino 46 ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1’28.669
    10 DOVIZIOSO Andrea 4 ITA Ducati Team 1’28.703
    11 VINALES Maverick 25 SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1’28.823
    12 BAUTISTA Alvaro 19 SPA Pull&Bear Aspar Team 1’28.968
    13 MILLER Jack 43 AUS Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS 1’27.967 Q1
    14 BAZ Loris 76 FRA Reale Avintia Racing 1’27.979 Q1
    15 SMITH Bradley 38 GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1’28.015 Q1
    16 IANNONE Andrea 29 ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar 1’28.103 Q1
    17 KALLIO Mika 36 FIN Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1’28.285 Q1
    18 BARBERA Hector 8 SPA Reale Avintia Racing 1’28.404 Q1
    19 ZARCO Johann 5 FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’28.444 Q1
    20 ABRAHAM Karel 17 CZE Pull&Bear Aspar Team 1’28.625 Q1
    21 LOWES Sam 22 GBR Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

     

  • Astonishing win for Rossi; Marquez 3rd

    Astonishing win for Rossi; Marquez 3rd

    Assen (The Netherlands), 26 Jun

    Rossi celebrates ater winning at Cathedral. A Movistar Yamaha image

    e 2017: Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team‘s Valentino Rossi brought his A game to the Motul TT Assen race today. The nine-time World Champion completed a challenging weekend due to mixed conditions with a superb win, giving him the longest winning career through all classes, spread over 20 years and 313 days. Teammate Maverick Viñales fought his way up from eleventh on the grid and was heading towards the leading group, but his efforts ended in a DNF after an unlucky fall.

    Rossi kicked off the Dutch Grand Prix from fourth position as darker skies loomed. He quickly slotted in behind Johann Zarco and Marc Marquez in third place and was quick to respond as his rivals attempted to break away, setting a provisional fastest lap of the race on lap three and four, with Danilo Petrucci tagging along.

    The Doctor piled on the pressure with 17 laps to go and overtook Marquez a lap later in the first corner, making the fans cheer. He duplicated this manoeuvre on the next lap to take over the lead from Zarco, which was followed by a touch between the two in turn 4, but the Italian kept the lead. Four laps later the Factory Yamaha man inched away as his pursuers battled for second place.

    The Doctor increased his lead to about a second, but with 8 laps left white flags came out as rain started to fall. Rossi was forced to lower his pace, allowing his rivals to close up. Adrenaline levels reached an all-time high for the VR46 fans as their hero fought tooth and nail to hold off his rival. Petrucci passed him with five laps to go, but the nine-time World Champion wasn‘t going to let the win slip away that easily. A lap later he used his nimble Yamaha YZR-M1 to charge past his compatriot in the chicane to regain the lead. The last laps were filled with drama as the pair had to deal with backmarkers, but Rossi held firm, taking a sensational win with a 0.063s advantage.

    It was a busy race for teammate Viñales. Starting fro

    m eleventh on the grid he flew off the line and made his way through the first lap settling into tenth place. He took a couple of laps to get his tyres up to temperature at the cool Assen track, before he heated up his pace and started to carve through the bunched-up pack of riders.

    The Spaniard put his head down and hit the front of the group fighting for fifth place with 16 laps left and was making strides, until a crash in the chicane prematurely ended his quest.

    Today’s results see Rossi move up to third place in the championship standings with a 108-point total. He is now three points behind his teammate Viñales in second place. The sensational win sees Yamaha hold the lead in the constructor championship with a 22-point margin and Movistar Yamaha MotoGP remain the leaders in the team standings by 28 points as they move on to Germany for the next round at Sachsenring in one week’s time.

  • Rossi declared fit for Italian GP

    Scarperia (Italy), 1 June 2017: Movistar Yamaha MotoGP‘s Valentino Rossi is declared fit to participate in this weekend‘s Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley.

    Earlier this afternoon, the nine-time World Champion underwent a routine medical check-up at the Autodromo del Mugello. VR46 fans from all over the world can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that FIM Medical Director, Dr Giancarlo Di Filippo, the Chief Medical Officer of the Mugello Circuit, Dr Remo Barbagli and the MotoGP Medical Director, Dr Angel Charte have found Rossi to be in a suitable condition to take part in his home Grand Prix, starting with Firday’s free practice sessions.

    eom/Movistar Yamaha press release

  • Rossi returns home, continues recovery process

    Gerno di Lesmo (Italy), 26 May 2017: Movistar Yamaha MotoGP‘s Valentino Rossi has left the hospital to continue his recovery process at home. The MotoGP-star was hospitalised after a motocross accident yesterday afternoon.

    Rossi has returned home from the “Ospedale Infermi” in Rimini, having successfully completed routine diagnostic tests that were scheduled earlier this afternoon.

    With the attending doctors confirming the findings shared in this morning‘s medical bulletin, the nine-time World Champion left the hospital at 5.30pm, accompanied by his staff. He will continue the recovery process in his own surroundings.

    Yamaha would like to thank the entire staff of the “Ospedale Infermi” for their dedication and professional care over the last 24 hours.

    Earlier on 25th a release said: Rossi was involved in a motocross training accident at the Cross Club Cavallara in Mondavio (Pesaro Urbino, Italy), on Thursday, May 25th.

    The 38-year-old Italian rider was taken to a local hospital for a medical check-up, where he was diagnosed with mild thoracic and abdominal trauma.

    No fractures have been detected in any part of the body and no serious traumatic pathologies were found.

    INDIAinF1 team prays that he recovers fast for the next round of the season.

     

    eom/Movistar Yamaha press release

  • Vinales wins; Heartbreak for Rossi fans

    Vinales wins; Heartbreak for Rossi fans

    Le Mans, 21 May 2017: Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Maverick Viñales delivered a stunning performance at the Grand Prix de France, taking his third victory of the season and the 500th Grand Prix win for Yamaha. Teammate Valentino Rossi also rode a brilliant race at the Le Mans Bugatti Grand Prix race circuit and had the crowds on their feet as he stormed to the front, but an unfortunate crash on the last lap meant an end to his challenge.

    Repsol Honda adds: Today Dani Pedrosa scored his third consecutive podium finish after starting the French GP fr

    Maverick Vinales celebrates after winning at Le Mans on Sunday. A Movistar Yamaha image

    om the 13th spot on the grid and making a great comeback to finish third  in front of over 104,000 spectators, a new record for the Le Mans event. The last time Dani was in the top three for three consecutive races was in 2014 (Catalunya, Assen, Sachsenring). He is now third on the list of most career podium finishes with 147, behind Agostini (159) and Rossi (224).

    Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Maverick Viñales came out fighting, dominating the MotoGP field to take a sensational victory at the Grand Prix de France, sealing Yamaha‘s 500th Grand Prix win. Valentino Rossi also showed a blistering pace in the French sunshine at the Le Mans Bugatti Grand Prix race circuit. He was scrapping with his teammate in an epic podium battle for the win, but suffered an unlucky fall on the last lap.

    Viñales was strong right from the beginning of the 28-lap French round. Starting from pole, he flew off the line to take the holeshot and slotted into second as he dived into turn 3, behind Johann Zarco. The Spaniard was on the case, shadowed by his teammate. With 22 laps Viñales made a textbook move on the satellite Yamaha rookie to take over the lead.

    Now at the front, the Spaniard put the hammer down. He did everything in his power to escape from Zarco. He managed his pace to perfection and made sure he held on to his P1 position until he got in a fierce battle with a rapidly approaching Rossi, but the number 25 rider held firm. He was leading on the last lap, when the Doctor crashed out of the race, allowing him to bring his YZR-M1 over the finish line, 3.134s ahead of his closest rival.

    Teammate Rossi had a good start from second on the grid and put his Yamaha in fourth position behind Marc Marquez after the first couple of corners, only to pass the Spaniard a few turns later. With Viñales in front of him, the Movistar Yamaha men rode in tandem as they chased the leader of the race.

    Outbraking himself with 16 laps to go, the Italian lost some time, which left him within the grasp of Marquez. The Doctor responded quickly to the situation and upped his pace as the Spaniard crashed out of the race, allowing Rossi to focus on the battle in front. With five laps to go, he overtook Zarco for second place, making it a perfect Movistar Yamaha 1-2, but the nine-time World Champion was hungry for more.

    He planned an attack on Viñales on lap 26 and had the fans cheer when he hit the front, but it wasn‘t to last. His teammate slipped back past him as the scrap continued and with the pace as hot as today‘s, a small mistake from Rossi on the last lap prohibited him from reaching the finish line after a hard-fought battle.

    Viñales‘ first place earns him 25 points. This puts him on 85 points and in the lead in the championship standings, 23 points ahead of Rossi in third place. The 500th Grand Prix win also sees the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Teamhold the lead in the Team standings by 21 points, with a total of 147 points, whilst Yamaha remains the top manufacturer in the Constructor’s Championship by a 13 point margin, with 108 points.

    The MotoGP paddock will next hit the Gran Premio d’Italia at the Autodromo del Mugello in two weeks‘ time.

    Massimo Meregalli

    Today it looked like we were going to have a dream scenario with a Yamaha 1-2-3, but unfortunately it wasn‘t to be. Still, we take great pride in this Grand Prix weekend’s performances. Yamaha has reached the 500th Grand Prix milestone, which is a very special occasion, and the manner in which it was done further underlines how successful Yamaha is in Grand Prix racing. Maverick‘s incredible focus, dedication and speed prevailed in a tension-filled race, leading to his third Grand Prix victory of the season. For sure it would be nice to have had Vale on the podium, but the tiny mistake on the last lap robbed him of that moment. Even so, it‘s been a proud day for the ’Yamaha family‘: the way Vale fought today made the French Grand Prix a great show and made it a race to remember. We hope many more exciting races like today‘s are in our future as we continue to strive for top results over the rest of the season.

    Maverick Vinales

    Keeping up with Johann in the early laps of the race was hard, he was really fast and with the full tank we were not so strong as him. He was exiting from the corners really good and really fast. Then his tyre started to drop a little bit and our tyre started to work good on the rear, and lap by lap I was feeling better. Until the end, in the last lap, I gave everything I had here in the French GP and, honestly, I’m so happy and so pleased. The team was working on an incredible level this weekend, I hope we can continue like that. For sure the tyres were working really good here, we hope we can work like this also in Mugello.

    Valentino Rossi

    It was a great shame, because for my team it was the best weekend of the season, where I was more competitive on the track, also in the wet, but especially in the race. For sure, for me this could have been the best result of the season. It was very difficult because the pace was always very high, but at the end I felt comfortable on the bike, I had a good feeling, so I tried to attack. Unfortunately, on the last lap I made a mistake in turn 6 and I fell back a little, so Maverick could overtake me. I knew I had another chance, because we were very close and I tried to remain there, because in sector 4 I was good. Sincerely, what happened during the crash, we don’t understand. Usually you have to pay attention to the front, but I lost the rear when I crashed. Anyway, I made a mistake, and it’s like this. It is a great shame to go back home with zero points. First of all, I’m very sorry for missing out on the probable victory and also for losing the lead in the championship, because I lost points. For me, it still has been a good weekend, I was strong. Now we have to start thinking about the next race track, I hope to ride there like I did this weekend. We hope to continue like this.

    eom/Yamaha press release