Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Valentino Rossi can now add one more to his tally of 198 premier class podium finishes after capitalising on a late 'gift' by fellow Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT), after 'El Diablo' crashed out whilst chasing victory with only a handful of corner remaining. The Doctor had a suspect start to his home race at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli when contact with Repsol Honda's Alex Marquez saw him crash out.
However, steady progress back through the field put him into fourth place, which quickly turned into third and a place on the virtual rostrum when Quartararo tucked the front. Fortunately, the nine-time World Champion had his third place trophy from the 2010 San Marino Grand Prix to hand, meaning he could celebrate his first top three finish on 2020 in true Rossi style.
"I’m very, very happy for this podium," said the 41-year-old Italian. "Because it’s an important result at my home Grand Prix. I trained this week and feel much better on the 2020 game, so this is for me, the team and all of the fans. Unfortunately, I made a mistake on the first lap and I had a crash, so I was a bit behind. But in the end, in the last three laps, I started to see the front three guys and I tried to keep my good rhythm and, in the end, with Fabio’s mistake, I got the podium."