Rossi: “It was a perfect Sunday”

It may not have been his home race but Valentino Rossi certainly had the crowd behind him after a thrilling battle Marquez.

When Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) spoke to the press after Qualifying at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya he was full of doom and gloom. The new track layout hurt his pace and having to use the harder tyres seemed as though it would destroy any chance he had of battling for victory. But as he and his crew have done so many times before, a little bit of magic happened overnight and ‘The Doctor’ topped Warm Up. When racing eventually got underway the hustle and bustle into Turn 1 knocked him down the order to seventh, but was immediately making up ground. On lap seven Rossi took the lead with a textbook move into Turn 1, but he wasn’t free at the front.

"You can’t wish for a better race"

Rossi’s great rival Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was just behind, stalking him for most of the race until he struck with five laps to go. The duo battled for several laps, passing and re-passing each other. Fans edged forwards in their seats, the tension reaching a climax when Marquez made a mistake at Turn 7, giving Rossi just enough breathing room to break away and take his second victory of the year.

Valentino Rossi, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP, Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya

Both of Rossi’s wins have come on Spanish soil and with his Spanish teammate, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), failing to finish the race, Rossi’s championship is back on. 25 points for victory may keep Rossi third overall, but he is now only 22 points behind Marquez and only 12 back on his teammate. Fans were delighted to see Rossi and Marquez shake hands after their hard, but fair, battle. It’s all to play for as they prepare for Assen.

Valentino Rossi: “I think it was a perfect Sunday, because this morning we improved the setting of the bike a lot and after the warm-up I felt more confident about the race. The race was great! Though the start was not fantastic, I was strong enough to come back, do some good overtaking and arrive in front. From that moment I tried to push at 100 percent to go away alone, but unfortunately I wasn’t fast enough to pull away from Marquez. I tried to stay quiet and ride well, because I felt I had a good pace and felt good with the bike. At the end I was ready for the battle, which was a good one, with a lot of overtaking and I was ready to give it a try. You can’t wish for a better race, I think. This is one of my favourite tracks and it was from 2009 that I didn’t win here, and that wasn’t great for me. For this reason I’m more happy today and the battle with Marquez we can put on the same level as the battle with Lorenzo. What happened in Mugello was very sad because I was ready to fight for the victory there, which was fantastic. Over the last week I just thought I had to try do the same, to arrive ready for the race. Together with my team we did a great job and I think this is the best way to forget about the zero points in Mugello.”