Rossi Rewards Passionate Fans with Third Place on Italian Home Soil

Race

The crowds had the Autrodromo del Mugello covered in yellow smoke even before the start of the Gran Premio d'Italia Oakley, and Movistar Yamaha MotoGP's Valentino Rossi gave them various reasons to keep celebrating all the way until the end of the day. Not only did the 39-year-old come out on top in a five-rider battle for third, he also claimed second place in the championship standings.

Rossi had a good start from pole and took second place after the first corners, behind Jorge Lorenzo. Shadowed by Marc Marquez, the front men tried to make a break for it. Marquez overtook the local hero on lap 3 but crashed out two laps later. This allowed the Doctor to resume his charge towards the race leader, but it wasn't without interruptions.

As the Italian went wide with 16 laps to go, compatriots Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone passed through and also Danilo Petrucci and Alex Rins joined the fight. The number 46 rider soon found himself in fifth place, but he wasn't out for the count. He regained his position ahead of Iannone and tried to claw his way back past Petrucci, whilst fending off Rins. Though he had to allow the Spaniard through with nine laps to go, he cleverly followed the young rider and seized two overtake opportunities on lap 17 and 18 to snatch third. Iannone tried to steal the podium position away from him, launching various attacks in turn 1, but the fans' favourite held firm and crossed the line in third place, 6.629s from first. Thanks to today's results Rossi became the first rider to score over 5000 Grand Prix championship points (he has collected 5005 points in total).

Rossi's podium finish moves him up to second position in the championship standings with 72 points, 5 points ahead of his teammate. These results keep Yamaha in second place in the Constructor Championship, decreasing the margin to first to 22 points, while the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team reclaimed first position in the team standings and now have a 15-point gap to the second team.

MotoGP will be back in action in two weeks' time at Viñales' home Grand Prix, the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya, held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya from June 15th - 17th.

Valentino Rossi

Position: 3rd – Championship: 2nd – Points: 72

"It was a very tough race because we had to start with the harder front tyre, which we knew wouldn't provide a lot of grip, so the race was very difficult. I tried not to make any mistakes, which was hard, and I also tried not to lose contact with the podium contenders. In my group the guys were riding on the softer tyre, so I hoped I would have a little bit more grip than them at the end. In fact, it was exactly like this, so I'm very happy, because the podium was the target for me. It remained difficult to secure it until the very last lap, because Iannone didn't give up, but at the end it's a great feeling here in Mugello."

Massimo Meregalli

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - Team Director

"Today the tyre choice played a big part in the outcome of the Italian GP. We had to start the race with the harder spec because of the expected tyre degradation, but we knew this wouldn't be the option that provided the riders with the most grip. The tyre decisions didn't pay off until the latter part of the race. Nevertheless, Valentino managed his tyres well, whilst at the same time doing a great job staying within podium contention. This allowed him to make his move when the harder tyres gave him the edge over his rivals and secure an important second consecutive third place. Though it wasn't the perfect weekend we set out for, we can still be satisfied that we decreased the gap to our rivals in the riders' and constructors' championship and reclaimed first place in the team standings. We will continue to work hard at the next GP to pile on the pressure."