Photo: Yamaha Racing
At 38 years old, Valentino Rossi is still a force out on the track, clinching second place in this weekend’s MotoGP round and gaining enough points to bounce right into the lead of the general Championship ranking.
Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi had an impressive pace this Sunday in the Grand Prix of The Americas, claiming his third consecutive podium finish of the season. Teammate Maverick Vinales was also looking in good shape, but he ended his run prematurely 20 laps before the end.
Rossi had a strong start, settling into third position after the first corner. He went chasing Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa in the opening laps, careful not to let them wonder off into the distance.
With 15 laps to go, the Italian rider went wide in the first corner and got into a scrap with Johann Zarco. After a touch between the two, the Doctor was pushed wide off the track but quickly managed to rejoin the asphalt and re-gain third position.
He then reached Pedrosa with only five laps to go. Two laps later, his carefully planned overtake came in the last corner. The nine-time World Champion put his head down as he was on the limit for the last leg.
He managed to take the checkered flag 3.069 seconds behind the leader, securing second place despite being penalized with 0.3 seconds due to the incident with Zarco.
“Im so happy, because today I wasn’t so far from the front and it's also the best result of my career at this track, so it's good,” said Rossi. “When I saw Viñales out I started to think I'm on top of the championship standings.”
Vinales had a busy initial lap. Starting from second spot, he got off the line well but found himself in the fifth place after all 22 riders had squeezed through the first corner. He soon overtook Jorge Lorenzo for fourth place, but his challenge was cut shortly by a crash in turn 16 just one lap later. The Spanish escaped unhurt but unable to continue the race.
In the end, Rossi managed to take the lead in the Championship standings gaining 56 points, 6 points ahead of Vinales. In the Constructor’s Championship, Yamaha still holds the first spot with a 16-point margin.
Rossi had a strong start, settling into third position after the first corner. He went chasing Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa in the opening laps, careful not to let them wonder off into the distance.
With 15 laps to go, the Italian rider went wide in the first corner and got into a scrap with Johann Zarco. After a touch between the two, the Doctor was pushed wide off the track but quickly managed to rejoin the asphalt and re-gain third position.
He then reached Pedrosa with only five laps to go. Two laps later, his carefully planned overtake came in the last corner. The nine-time World Champion put his head down as he was on the limit for the last leg.
He managed to take the checkered flag 3.069 seconds behind the leader, securing second place despite being penalized with 0.3 seconds due to the incident with Zarco.
“Im so happy, because today I wasn’t so far from the front and it's also the best result of my career at this track, so it's good,” said Rossi. “When I saw Viñales out I started to think I'm on top of the championship standings.”
Vinales had a busy initial lap. Starting from second spot, he got off the line well but found himself in the fifth place after all 22 riders had squeezed through the first corner. He soon overtook Jorge Lorenzo for fourth place, but his challenge was cut shortly by a crash in turn 16 just one lap later. The Spanish escaped unhurt but unable to continue the race.
In the end, Rossi managed to take the lead in the Championship standings gaining 56 points, 6 points ahead of Vinales. In the Constructor’s Championship, Yamaha still holds the first spot with a 16-point margin.
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