Yamaha Fills Front Row after French Qualifying

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Valentino Rossi went all out in an intense 15-minute qualifying session at the Le Mans Bugatti Grand Prix race circuit today, that saw the teammates secure the first two slots on the front row for tomorrow's Grand Prix de France. Rossi also flexed his muscles during the 15-minute shoot-out. He was quick to head out to make the most of the time available, but decided to let some chasing riders pass at the end of his first hot lap. He moved up to second place on his third attempt, before heading back to the box with six minutes remaining. The Italian continued his efforts one and a half minute later, setting another personal best lap that moved him up from fourth to second, despite having to avoid a crash from Jack Miller that happened right in front of him. The Doctor still had some time left for a final push, and improved his time to a 1'32.100s, to keep a strong hold on second place, ahead of Johann Zarco, who made it a full Yamaha front row. Valentino Rossi Postion: 2nd - Time: 1'32.100 - Laps: 8 I’m so happy, because today was the first practice in the dry, so you never know. We modified the setting a bit, and that, together with this track and this asphalt, makes our bike work well. In the end it was a really good qualifying, I think on the first flying lap I was fast, but I reached Jack a bit too early, so I lost a bit of time. It's a shame for missing out on the pole position, but starting from second place is OK for the race. Massimo Meregalli Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - Team Manager Today worked out perfectly for the team. It's been a really challenging day, from FP3 until the very end of Q2, due to the condition of the track, which was constantly changing lap by lap, but all for the better. All of today's sessions were really exciting. The new tarmac provides very good grip, which perfectly suits our bike and both our riders have done a great job to exploit this advantage to the fullest. They have been fast and consistent in all the sessions and today's results give us a lot of confidence for tomorrow's race, but saying that, we still have some areas where we can improve. The tyre choice remains a question mark, because the conditions over the last two days haven't allowed us to complete a proper comparison amongst all the options. For this reason, the warm up will be extremely important. We will start the race from the best position on the grid, in first and second place, and today Zarco made it an all-Yamaha front row.