Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) has broken many a record during his career, and at Silverstone it will be time to make history once again: the ‘Doctor’ will be lining up for his record 300th premier class start. No other rider in history has reached that number – and the rider from Tavullia shows no sign of slowing down.
The first time the ‘Doctor’ won in the premier class also happened on British soil, at the British GP in 2000. Then, the stage was Donington Park – and Rossi most certainly played the lead as he moved through the pack to take his first victory. The British GP is at Silverstone this year – but then Rossi is a winner there, too.
His Silverstone win came in 2015, when the nine-time World Champion's speed at the venue in the wet was invincible – and he’s been becoming a bigger threat every year in the dry. After some tougher races in 2017 of late, the mission will be the same as always: points for the Championship as he remains very much in contention. But it will also be to convert the awesome winning record of Yamaha at Silverstone into more silverware – come rain or shine.
Valentino Rossi: “We go to Silverstone after a day of testing in Misano and I want to go back on track immediately to find out if we have been able to find positive solutions to improve our bike. Silverstone is a very fun and beautiful track but also very demanding. This track is very long and there are so many changes of direction at high speed. It‘s important to find a perfect set-up of the bike, in braking and in the fast corners. It‘s a really nice track for me and for my riding style. I want to do a good weekend and fight for the podium!"