Team Yamaha MotoGP Grand Prix of Catalunya Montmeló, Spain, 11th June 2017

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A challenging weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya resulted in Movistar Yamaha MotoGP‘s Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales securing eighth and tenth place respectively at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya.

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8th | VALENTINO ROSSI
+20.821 / 25 LAPS

10th | MAVERICK VIÑALES
+24.189 / 25 LAPS

Grand Prix of Catalunya
Montmeló, Spain, 11th June 2017

A slippery Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya race resulted in valuable championship points for Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team‘s Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales, after a challenging weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Rossi had a good opening lap, moving up one place to twelfth but had to give back the place as he got into a fight with Johann Zarco. The Doctor progressed to tenth by passing Scott Redding and making a brilliant move at the start of lap 4, overtaking Jack Miller and Hector Barbera at the same time.
Having breached into the top-10, the Italian set a personal best lap in his attempt to cut through the field. Finding himself behind Zarco on lap 5, he put his head down and overtook the fellow Yamaha rider less than a lap later. With Aleix Espargaró retiring from the race, Rossi was lying in eighth, but a mistake on lap 10 saw him move back behind Zarco.
Rossi was eager to follow the Frenchman past Jorge Lorenzo and Alvaro Bautista, but suffered a sudden tyre drop and was unable to keep in touch with the battle for sixth. A late crash by Danilo Petrucci saw him cross the line in eighth place, 20.821s from the front.
It was a lonely ride for teammate Viñales during the Catalan Grand Prix: his solid efforts today were overshadowed by a lack of grip. He started the race cautiously from ninth on the grid to slot into 16th position after the first couple of corners. Though unable to get a good feeling in the opening laps, he moved up one position and defended it from the pursuing riders.
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As Espargaró retired from the race, the number 25 rider advanced to 14th place. Three laps later he felt his tyres come to him and was ready to start his attack, followed soon by an overtake on Redding on lap 12.
With Miller crashing out and slipping past Cal Crutchlow on lap 20, the Factory Yamaha rider saw a possible top10 finish in his future and put his head down. He overtook Barbera with 4 laps to go for tenth, and briefly rode in ninth position when Petrucci ended his race prematurely, but a last lap fight again with Barbera had Viñales take the chequered flag in tenth position, 24.189s from first, scoring six vital points for the championship.

Race Results

1. A. Dovizioso | Ducati Team | 44’51.518
2. M. Marquez | Repsol Honda Team | +3.544
3. D. Pedrosa | Repsol Honda Team | +6.774
5. J. Zarco | Monster Yamaha Tech3 | +13.838
6. J. Folger | Monster Yamaha Tech3 | +13.921
8. V. Rossi | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | +20.821
10. M. Viñales | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | +24.189

Valentino Rossi

“I was really sad today, because I won here last year and also it is one of my favourite tracks. We knew it was going to be a difficult weekend, as we had some problems during the practice sessions due to the temperature of the asphalt and the level of grip. The race today wasn‘t positive, but I did my best to take as many points for the championship as possible. Tomorrowwe will have an important test, where we will try many things, so this is positive. I hope that for the next two back-to-back races we will be able to return to the front.”


Maverick Viñales

“It was a really difficult day, but there are some days that you just have to get the points and that‘s what we did. Tenth place was the best we could do, for sure that‘s not our normal placement, but for today that was the best and we have to be happy with the six points we took today and at least we are still first in the championship. We will continue to work hard to get a better result in the next races.

Massimo Meregalli
Team Director
“We expected today‘s race to be particularly challenging for us, as we encountered some difficulties in all practice sessions. We knew that under such circumstances like today – hot weather and low-grip asphalt – our bike is not as competitive as we‘ve seen it in other races. Eighth and tenth is not exactly what we were aiming for, but they‘re valuable points for the championship and now we put this race in our archive and focus on the next races. It‘s good that we are staying in Montmeló for tomorrow‘s test, so we‘ll be in the position to get immediate feedback about the new materials our engineers have developed. They‘ve brought two new frames with the aim to improve the performance of the bike in situations like today‘s and we will be back soon on the highest step of the podium.”

[title size=”3″ content_align=”left” style_type=”single solid” sep_color=”” class=”” id=””]Schedule & Standings[/title]

Rossi‘s eighth place earned him eight points, making 83 in total, which puts him in fifth place in the standings, 28 points behind his teammate, who leads the championship by 7 points. The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team also hold the lead in the team standings by 22 points, whilst Yamaha remains the top manufacturer in the Constructor’s Championship by a 14-point margin.

The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team will be back at the Barcelona track tomorrow for a one-day Official IRTA Test.

Valentino Rossi - Maverick Viñales | Yamaha MotoGP | Grand Prix of France 21st May 2017

Date Race Venue Location Rossi Viñales Team
Mar 26 Grand Prix of Qatar
View results
Losail International Circuit Qatar 3rd
16 pts
1st
25 pts
1st
41 pts
Apr 9 Grand Prix of Argentina
View results
Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo Argentina 2nd
36 pts
1st
50 pts
1st
86 pts
Apr 23 Grand Prix of the Americas
View results
Circuit of the Americas Austin, TX 2nd
56 pts
NC
50 pts
1st
106 pts
May 7 Grand Prix of Spain
View results
Circuido de Jerez Jerez de la Frontera, Spain 10th
62 pts
6th
60 pts
1st
122 pts
May 21 Grand Prix of France
View results
Circuit de ls Sarthe Le Mans, France NC
62 pts
1st
85 pts
1st
147 pts
Jun 4 Grand Prix of Italy
View results
Autodromo del Mugello Mugello, Italy 4th
75 pts
1st
105 pts
1st
180 pts
Jun 11 Grand Prix of Catalunya Circuit de Catalunya Montmeló, Spain 8th
83 pts
10th
111 pts
1st
194 pts
Jun 25 Grand Prix of the Netherlands Circuit de ls Sarthe Assen, Netherlands
Jul 2 Grand Prix of Germany Sachsenring Saxon, Germany
Aug 6 Grand Prix of Czech Republic Automodrom Brno Brno, Czech Republic
Aug 13 Grand Prix of Austria Red Bull Ring Spielberg, Austria
Aug 27 Grand Prix of Great Britain Silverstone Circuit Towcester, Great Britain
Sep 10 Grand Prix of San Marino Misano World Circuit Misano Adriatico, Italy
Sep 24 Grand Prix of Aragón Motorland Aragón Alcañiz, Spain
Oct 15 Grand Prix of Japan Twin Ring Motegi Tochigi, Japan
Oct 22 Grand Prix of Australia Phillip Island Circuit Phillip Island Victoria, Australia
Oct 29 Grand Prix of Malaysia Sepang International Circuit Selangor, Malaysia
Nov 12 Grand Prix of Valencia Ricardo Tormo Valencia Cheste, Spain

Additional details, including extended imagery, are available on www.yamahamotogp.com.

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