Rossi Banks Crucial Championship Points at the Czech GP

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP's Valentino Rossi had predicted that he would have a challenging end to the Monster Energy Grand Prix Ceské republiky race and acted accordingly. He made a strong charge in the first half of the race, taking the lead several times. Though he had to relinquish P1, he still secured solid championship points with a well-earned fourth place. 

Rossi had a brilliant start from second place on the grid and took the holeshot. The opening laps were a continuous back and forth between him and fellow Italian Andrea Dovizioso, while Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo followed. The Doctor spent most of the early stages in second position, carefully observing his compatriot until, with 14 laps to go, he felt ready to make a break for it. He overtook Dovizioso and put his head down.

The nine-time World Champion held the provisional first place for three laps before another battle at the front unfolded. The number 46 rider fell back to fifth place, but he made sure to stay in contact with the leading group. He stalked Cal Crutchlow around the track and made a decisive overtake in the final chicane of the last lap to secure fourth place over the line, 2.902s from first.

The fourth place made Rossi the first rider to secure more than 6000 Grand Prix championship points over all classes. It also keeps him in second position in the championship standings with 49 points to first and 23 points ahead of teammate Viñales, who is now in fourth position. Yamaha holds third place in the Constructor Championship after the race in Brno, with a 43-point margin to first, while the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team remain in first position in the team standings with a 3-point gap to the second team.

The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team will be back in action at the Automotodrom Brno tomorrow for a one-day Official IRTA Test.

Valentino Rossi

Position: 5th - Championship: 2nd - Points: 132

"I think that at the end for me it was a good race because I made a good start, a good first few laps, and I always stayed in the front group. The problem was that I wasn't fast enough to fight with Dovizioso, Marquez, and Lorenzo. I didn't have enough pace, unfortunately, and that was a shame because I wanted to try to arrive on the podium, for sure. At the end I did a very good battle with Cal. I was able to overtake him in the last chicane and recovered one place, but it wasn't enough for the podium."

Race report and image provided by Yamaha Racing