Tag: Valentino Rossi

Catalunya, 5 June 2016: Valentino Rossi rode to a stunning  victory on new compound Michelin tyres at the Catalunya MotoGP™ this afternoon as the nine-time World Champion fought off the challenge of his nearest rivals to take his seventh premier class win at the Montmélo circuit.

Starting from fifth on the grid, Rossi was blocked on the first corner and relegated to eighth position. He quickly rectified that with his trademark passing manoeuvres and was soon in to fourth place. Over the next few laps Rossi passed the Honda of Dani Pedrosa, pole-setter Marc Marquez also on a Honda and previous championship leader – and Yamaha team-mate – Jorge Lorenzo, as he moved to first place on lap-seven. Using the new compound hard front and rear MICHELIN Power Slicks, the Italian consistently circulated the Catalonian circuit at the head of the field before Marquez chased him down and challenged for the lead with five laps remaining. The pair battled for the victory as the race drew to a close, before Rossi took the initiative after a mistake by Marquez and made the final decisive break to take a hard-fought, but thoroughly deserved victory, with Marquez following him home with the consolation of taking the championship lead.

A crowd of almost 100,000 people packed the grandstands and were treated to a superb day of racing from all three classes. In beautiful, warm sunshine today’s track temperatures rose to the highest this weekend as the asphalt reached 48°C, this combined with the poor condition of the surface, which gave little grip to the riders, made tyre choice an important factor. The majority of the field went for a hard front and rear selection, to give durability over the tough 25-lap race. Pedrosa was one rider to make a different choice, as he chose a medium compound rear to partner his hard front, and used the pair to good effect to take the final podium position.

Fourth-place went to Suzuki’s Maverick Viñales, while the honour of First Independent Rider was secured by Pol Espargaro on a satellite Yamaha, an impressive result and one that also showed the performance of the medium compound MICHELIN Power Slicks, as the Spaniard was one of only two riders to use these on the front and rear of their machines. Cal Crutchlow on a Honda was sixth, Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso seventh, with the Aprilia of Álvaro Bautista taking eighth. Danilo Petrucci on a Ducati was ninth and Honda’s Jack Miller rounded out the top-ten – the best result of his premier class MotoGP career so far. Lorenzo didn’t make it to the chequered flag, after an incident which saw Ducati’s Andrea Iannone collide with the current World Champion and leave both of them on the side of the track and out of the race on lap-17. This was the only crash during today’s race and for the second successive event no crashes were contributable to tyres, a fact that underlines the advances Michelin is making as the season progresses.

Today’s race was held on a revised circuit configuration, to the one originally planned, due to the tragic events which have overshadowed this weekend’s proceedings. During Friday’s second Moto2 Free Practice session Spanish rider Luis Salom crashed at turn-12 and the 24-year-old succumbed to his injuries. Following the fatal crash and subsequent discussions, the layout of the circuit was changed for safety reasons and the F1 track configuration was implemented. This featured the addition of the chicane at turn-12, designed to miss out the corner where the accident happened. Everyone at Michelin would like to pass on their condolences and deepest sympathies to the family, friends and team of Luis Salom.

Michelin will remain at Montmélo for a one-day test on the Monday where the latest versions of the MICHELIN Power Slicks will be tested and evaluated by all riders. The paddock will then move to the most northerly circuit on the calendar, as the championship heads to Assen in the Netherlands for the Dutch TT on Sunday 26th June, the first time this iconic race has not been staged on a Saturday.

Valentino Rossi – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP:

“We were a little bit worried about what might happen, because yesterday we had a bit of a problem with the hard tyre and making it work, but today it was good and worked well in the temperature with my bike. I think it was difficult for everybody with some spinning, but the tyres worked really well and I am very happy with the result.”

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

“This has been a very difficult weekend for all concerned, after what happened on Friday, and I would firstly like to pass on my condolences to the family and friends of Luis Salom, it was a terrible tragedy and one that nobody ever wants to happen.

“Regarding the race weekend, we had a selection of tyres that we thought would work well here in most conditions, but we never expected the surface to be as poor as it was. The track gave very little grip and all the teams had to work hard to get the best for their bikes. The change of layout also made a big difference and changed the stresses that were put on the tyres. For the race itself the track was at almost 50°C, but the majority of the field used the new hard compound tyres to cope with these difficult conditions and although we experienced quite high levels of wear we were pleased with the overall performance. Valentino rode a great race and when he came under attack from Marc the performance in the tyres was still there in the last laps to produce a memorable end for the fans. One of the most pleasing aspects of today’s race was that again we had no crashes that the tyres could be held responsible for and it was a close race right until the end. This is another step forward for us and shows that we are continuing to work in the right direction. We now have a test on Monday, when we have some tyres for all the rides to try, hopefully this will give use more information as we head towards the second half of the season and some very challenging circuits.”

eom/A Michelin press release

Termas de Rio Hondo (Argentina), 19 April 2015: Movistar Yamaha MotoGP‘s Valentino Rossi ended his Argentine adventure in style today with a sensational victory in the Gran Premio de la República Argentina. Teammate Jorge Lorenzo started strongly as a key protagonist before dropping to finish in fifth, an Yamaha release says.

After the win Rossi said:

“It’s a great victory, we made the right decision and started with the extra hard tyre. When I saw Marc start with the red one I knew that he would try to push at the beginning. I made a great start but on the first corner Iannone pushed me on the outside. Step by step I came back, and when I arrived in second Marc had a little more than four seconds lead. I knew the race was long, so I knew he could have some difficulty. Catching him lap by lap, I could see him far away but coming closer and closer, it was a great taste! I overtook him in braking, but he is a rider who is all or nothing, he touched me in the corner, then he touched me again as I was accelerating, I think he made a mistake and he crashed. It’s a shame because it could have been a great fight on the last lap. In three races we have demonstrated we can be competitive everywhere and fight for the championship.”

Starting from a less than perfect eighth position on the grid, Rossi was immediately in the middle of the pack fighting for first corner position. Taking a lap to find his rhythm he then started his move up the field, taking first Danilo Petrucci and then Aleix Espargarò to move into sixth. With 20 laps to go his teammate Lorenzo was next as the Doctor continued his charge towards the front.

The next pack to be dispatched were Andrea Iannone, then Cal Crutchlow and finally Andrea Dovizioso to put the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider in second position. Rossi then had the seemingly impossible task of closing a gap of over four seconds to leading rider Marc Marquez.

The nine-time world champion then delivered a performance for the record books, putting the hammer down and cutting the lead lap by lap to reel Marquez in with just two laps remaining. A fast exchange of positions followed through turns two, three and four, with Rossi exiting turn five in the lead. In his rush to counter attack, Marquez then clipped Rossi‘s back wheel on the exit, crashing out of contention.

Teammate Lorenzo was quick to attack from the grid start, taking third through the first corner then swiftly dealing with Aleix Espargarò for second and beginning the hunt for Marquez. The charge was to be short lived as the Mallorcan struggled to make the harder rear tyre work for him, gradually dropping to take fifth at the line.

Rossi‘s victory brings with it some incredible numbers, bringing Rossi‘s podium tally to 199, 110 of which are victories and 51 of those with Yamaha.

The result puts him on 66 points at the top of the rider standings, six clear of Dovizioso in second. Movistar Yamaha MotoGP also lead the team standings on 103 points and Yamaha lead the constructors standings with 66 points.

Lorenzo‘s fifth place finish delivers 11 points, putting him on a total of 37 in fourth, one point ahead of Marquez.

Losail International Circuit (Qatar), 29 March 2015: Movistar Yamaha MotoGP‘s Valentino Rossi opened the 2015 MotoGP season tonight with a stunning victory at the Grand Prix of Qatar.

Track conditions today were much like yesterday with a constant track temperature of 26°C recorded during the twenty-two lap race. The hard compound front slick that was widely used in race simulations in Free Practice 4 yesterday was also the most popular front tyre choice for the race, with seventeen riders selecting this option, and the remaining eight riders selecting the medium compound front slick. Rear tyre choice showed a strong preference for the medium compound rear slick, with twenty riders selecting this option, and five riders opting for the soft compound rear. Despite it showing promise during long runs in previous sessions, the hard compound rear slick was not chosen by any riders for the race. The Qatar Grand Prix was the first competitive outing for Bridgestone’s 2015 specification MotoGP tyres and the results were impressive, with this year’s Qatar Grand Prix having the shortest-ever winning race time and race winner Rossi able to set a time on his final lap that was just one-tenth of a second slower than his race fastest lap, set on lap five, a Bridgestone release said.

Yamaha Release adds:

Rossi’s teammate Jorge Lorenzo also put on an impressive performance finishing in fourth place.

What started as a battle that could have been anybody‘s race, ended in a thrilling duel.
Rossi rode an incredible race. Starting from eighth on the grid, the nine-time world champion fell back to tenth position and took a few laps to get a feel for the situation. He then ploughed through the order on his way to the front of the field. He quickly overtook several riders to take fifth in a duel with rival Pedrosa on lap four. Keeping up his pace, he soon passed Hernandez for fourth and continued his podium chase by bridging a 1,5 second gap to rider in third. He then clawed his way to the front group of Dovizioso, Lorenzo and Iannone. This was the start of an incredible final battle between the two factory teams as the riders changed positions several times.

“In the last three seasons I always rode solid races and arrived on the podium but to come back with a victory is another thing. I am so happy because we suffered a lot during the practices and also the tests, but we worked very well for the 22 laps race and I was very strong. First of all you have to be lucky, but especially the work that we do with the team during the weekend makes the difference for my pace in the race. It was definitely one of the best races of my career, considering where we were yesterday. I really have to thank all my team, my engineers and all at Yamaha because I think today we did something amazing.”

Rossi fought hard, eventually overtaking Iannone with four laps to go. A nail biting last few rounds with rival Dovizioso followed, with the Doctor giving one of his best performances in his 20 year MotoGP career. Fighting until the very last corner he gave everything to hold enough of an advantage to clinch the first victory of the 2015 season, with a margin of 0.174s.

Teammate Jorge Lorenzo also had a great start to his 2015 Championship, flying from sixth on the grid to grab second place into turn one. He continued to chase Dovizioso, as rival Marquez had run wide. Lorenzotook over at the front in turn 12 of lap two, but was unable to create a lead. The Mallorcan and Dovizioso battled fiercely and were later joined by Iannone and Rossi. Lorenzo feeling the heat of the following riders, made many attempts at reclaiming the lead, but was unable to hold first position. He fought bravely, but with four laps to go was forced to let his teammate and rivals go through due to a problem with his helmet. He finished fourth, 2.707s from the front.

Team Director Massimo Meregalli said: “It has been an incredible start to the season. Vale‘s race was a masterpiece! He rode well and really got what he deserved. Unfortunately Jorge had a problem with his helmet seven laps to the end and had to slow down a bit. Otherwise I think we could have had both riders on the podium. Especially considering how we started the weekend, this is a great result. Our target was to start with a victory and we achieved it. I want to say a big thank you to everybody who made this happen. The whole team has been putting in hard work, starting from last week. We now look forward to the next race in two weeks time.”

Rossi‘s superb win earns him first place in the championship standings with 25 points. Lorenzo now holds fourth place in the championship with 13 points.

Thanks to today‘s results Movistar Yamaha  MotoGP take the lead in the teams‘ championship with 38 points. The next round will be held at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), United States, in two weeks‘ time.

eom/Yamaha release