Movistar Yamaha Conclude Catalan GP with Valuable Championship Points

The Moto GP Movistar Yamaha team didn’t get the result they wanted but have earnt valuable championship points. Report from Yamaha racing below.  

A slippery Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya race resulted in valuable championship points for Movistar Yamaha after a challenging weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Rossi had a good opening lap, moving up one place to twelfth but had to give back the place as he got into a fight with Johann Zarco. The Doctor progressed to tenth by passing Scott Redding and making a brilliant move at the start of lap 4, overtaking Jack Miller and Hector Barbera at the same time.Having breached into the top-10, the Italian set a personal best lap in his attempt to cut through the field. Finding himself behind Zarco on lap 5, he put his head down and overtook the fellow Yamaha rider less than a lap later. With Aleix Espargaró retiring from the race, Rossi was lying in eighth, but a mistake on lap 10 saw him move back behind Zarco.

Rossi was eager to follow the Frenchman past Jorge Lorenzo and Alvaro Bautista, but suffered a sudden tyre drop and was unable to keep in touch with the battle for sixth. A late crash by Danilo Petrucci saw him cross the line in eighth place, 20.821s from the front.

Rossi’s eighth place earned him eight points, making 83 in total, which puts him in fifth place in the standings, 28 points behind his teammate. The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team also hold the lead in the team standings by 22 points, whilst Yamaha remains the top manufacturer in the Constructor's Championship by a 14-point margin. The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team will be back at the Barcelona track tomorrow for a one-day Official IRTA Test.

Valentino Rossi

8th - +20.821 / 25 Laps

I was really sad today, because I won here last year and also it is one of my favourite tracks. We knew it was going to be a difficult weekend, as we had some problems during the practice sessions due to the temperature of the asphalt and the level of grip. The race today wasn’t positive, but I did my best to take as many points for the championship as possible. Tomorrow we will have an important test, where we will try many things, so this is positive. I hope that for the next two back-to-back races we will be able to return to the front.

Massimo Meregalli

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

We expected today’s race to be particularly challenging for us, as we encountered some difficulties in all practice sessions. We knew that under such circumstances like today hot weather and low-grip asphalt our bike is not as competitive as we’ve seen it in other races. Eighth and tenth is not exactly what we were aiming for, but they’re valuable points for the championship and now we put this race in our archive and focus on the next races. It’s good that we are staying in Montmeló for tomorrow’s test, so we’ll be in the position to get immediate feedback about the new materials our engineers have developed. They’ve brought two new frames with the aim to improve the performance of the bike in situations like today’s and we will be back soon on the highest step of the podium.

Image source: Yamaha racing