Movistar Yamaha Scores Masterful 1-2 in Mugello Qualifying

Movistar Yamaha Scores Masterful 1-2 in Mugello Qualifying

full report from Yamaha below

After showing a stunning pace in Free Practice 3, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP's Valentino Rossi

promoted to Q2 and flexed his muscles at the Autodromo del Mugello circuit in the fight for pole position. The Movistar Yamaha teammates secured first and second place respectively on the grid for tomorrow's Gran Premio d'Italia Oakley.

The still recovering Rossi had an eventful start to the day, topping the FP3 and combined time sheets and walking away from a late crash in FP4, but he was his cool and collected self at the start of Q2. Riding with a special Mugello helmet that pays tribute to Nicky Hayden, Marco Simoncelli, and retiring Italian football captain Francesco Totti, the Doctor put his head down on his second flying lap. He dropped a 1'47.539s to take provisional fifth place, before returning to the pits for fresh tyres with seven and half minutes to go.

He left the box almost three minutes later, giving the competition a head start to ensure clear space on track as he joined an intense battle for the front row. Finding himself in eleventh place, he pushed hard to shave a big chunk off his time with his 1'46.814s third attempt, securing second position on the grid, next to his teammate.

Valentino Rossi

Position 2nd - Time: 1'46.814

Today we did great work, carrying on from yesterday. My condition improved and we also improved the setting of the bike. This morning was the first practice that I ended in P1 this season, so I’m very happy because I did a great lap time. This afternoon I was also strong, but unfortunately I made a stupid mistake at the end of FP4 and I slid. Fortunately it was no problem, also because it was with the second bike, I didn't damage the right bike. However, I lost a bit of feeling, so to make this second place was good, even better than normal, because when you start with a mistake, maybe you need it sometimes. I think the race will be very tough from every angle, because it looks like there are six other bikes with the same pace, so to start from the front row is very important.

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - Team Director

Today was not without its challenges, but in the end we couldn’t have asked for a better result.

Valentino gave a seriously impressive performance, starting with the free practice session this morning and he again delivered in the afternoon. Despite his injury he has been showing superb form, finishing just 0.239s off pole. We still have some doubts concerning the set-up that we have to look into, so tomorrow’s warm up is going to be decisive.