Movistar Yamaha Score 5th and 7th at Drama-Packed Spanish GP

Race

Both Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Riders persistence earned them valuable points for the championship today. They pushed to the fullest at a hot and slippery Circuito de Jerez - Ángel Nieto, securing fifth and seventh place respectively.

Rossi had a good start from tenth position on the grid and quickly moved up a spot. Despite the track being crowded with 25 riders simultaneously trying to squeeze through the tight corners of the Jerez track, he held firm as he crossed the line for the first time. Over the next few laps he battled with Andrea Iannone, but wasn't able to cling on to the back of his compatriot's bike. When two rivals ahead of him crashed out of the race in the early stages, the Doctor found himself in eighth position, after he had to let Danilo Petrucci through.

The Italian then focused on defending his position from an approaching Jack Miller and managed the gap perfectly. He bided his time until he felt the bike come to him with eight laps to go and launched an attack on Petrucci, but was unable to make it stick. Yet, as three further frontrunners crashed out of the race, he moved up to fifth position and was consequently part of the group battling for third place. Miller passed Rossi on lap 20, but two laps later the nine-time World Champion retaliated and was digging deep to bridge the gap to the riders in front. He was making serious strides, but came just short, taking the chequered flag in fifth place, 8.743s from first.

Today's race results see Rossi Gain a place holding sixth with a 40-point total. Yamaha remains second in the Constructor Championship with 76 points, while Movistar Yamaha MotoGP is still in first position in the Team Championship, having scored 90 points.

The team will be back on track tomorrow in Jerez, Spain, for a one-day official IRTA-test, followed by a private test in Italy later next week.

Valentino Rossi

Position: 5th - Champtionship: 6th - Points: 40

"Fifth place, with my pace this weekend, is not so bad. I was also lucky because three guys in front of me crashed. We gave the maximum and today the race was quite good, but unfortunately this is our potential now. I was a lot faster compared to last year, but it's not enough to fight for the podium. If we want to try to fight for the podium and the victory, we have to speed up our development process. I hope we can do so soon."

Massimo Meregalli

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - Team Director

"The Spanish GP is always a spectacle, but nobody could have predicted the dramatic incidents that happened today. We knew we had a difficult race ahead of us. The track conditions in today's heat were not easy and this is highlighted by the many crashes we saw this afternoon. Both Riders struggled in middle of the race, but their pace seemed to get stronger towards the end. Vale pushed as much as he could and was very close to landing a place on the podium. Tomorrow we have another day of testing at this circuit, which we will use to find some solutions. The Jerez test is always important, because we can use it to do back-to-back setting comparisons. We have to keep working to increase our bike's performance, so we get back to the level where we belong."

Report and Images provided by Yamaha