Rossi Rides Strong Comeback Race to Sixth at the Red Bull Ring

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP's Valentino Rossi turned his fortunes around today at the eyetime Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich, claiming a strong 6th place after a superb comeback race. Maverick Viñales had a more challenging outing at the Red Bull Ring - Spielberg track, but made up ground in the second half of the race to finish in 12th position.

Rossi started from 14th on the grid and was wary of the first lap, when the busy mid-pack of the rider field would be diving into the tight first corner, but he managed the situation well. He finished his first lap in 11th place, trying to be both on the attack and the defensive. At the start of lap 4 the provisional rider order settled, and the Italian was in tenth place chasing fellow Yamaha-rider Johann Zarco. Two laps later he got the job done, taking ninth.

The battle for eighth with Aleix Espargeró took the nine-time World Champion a bit longer, but he prevailed with 19 laps to go. He then had to bridge a gap to Tito Rabat. Ten laps later he could make his move, successfully securing seventh place, but he had to do yet more work to close the over 2.5s gap to Álex Rins. It was a big ask, but the Doctor was up to the task and four laps before the end he got the job done. Rossi had to continue pushing 100% for the remainder of the race to keep Dani Pedrosa at bay. All the while he was closing in on Danilo Petrucci in fifth, but he came just short of being able to confront him, crossing the line in sixth place, 14.026s from first.

Today's results see Rossi remain in second position in the championship standings with 59 points to first. Yamaha holds third place in the Constructor Championship after the race in Spielberg, with a 53-point margin to first, while the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team are now in third position in the team standings with a 12-point gap to first.

The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team will be back in action at the Silverstone Circuit for the GoPro British Grand Prix, held from August 24th - 26th.

Valentino Rossi

Position: 6th – Championship: 2nd – Points: 142

"I was able to enjoy the race, because I could recover a lot of positions and do some good overtaking, and nobody overtook me. This morning we tried something different that I liked. Unfortunately, I wasn't faster, but I was able to keep my pace more consistent and use the rear tyre less. I started well, but I was in the rider pack. I had some hard battles at the beginning, but after I could recover. If I could have taken part in Q2 and started a little more towards the front, maybe then I could have fought with Petrucci, but from Crutchlow on there was no way because they were faster than us. We'll try to improve for the next race."

Race report and image provided by Yamaha Racing