Despite only managing to qualify on the front of the third row and having a terrible start where he was swallowed up by many a keen MotoGP field, Movistar Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi finished second in a dramatic, crash-filled fifth round of the MotoGP at Le Mans France.
Rossi battled on and used his experience and skill to overtake the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha and Tech 3 Yamahas and continued in pursuit of Repsol Honda rider Marc Marquez. Ducati rider Andrea Iannone crashed out from third place which allowed Marquez to catch up to Iannone’s Ducati teammate Andrea Dovizioso, with Rossi in tow.
To add to the Italian’s fortune, Dovizioso and Marquez fell off in front of him following a ‘freak accident’. This left Rossi in second place and the nine times world champion only had to avoid making a mistake himself and complete the race to gain twenty laps towards his championship which the Italian is delighted with.
“I started quite badly from the third row so at the beginning it was very complicated. I had a quite good pace so I was able to push and I was quite fast, but you have to stay quiet because it was very easy to make some mistakes. Step by step I arrived to the back of Marquez and Dovi and at that moment I was a bit faster.”
Rossi is now third in the championship with 78 points; he is 12 points behind teammate Jorge Lorenzo who is leading after going on to win in Le Mans and seven behind rival Marquez. He still appears confidence and is still full of determination to fight for what would be his tenth title at this level.
“In the championship I‘m twelve points behind Jorge and seven behind Marc. This means that between us three the championship is wide open and we have to concentrate. I‘m just third at this moment, so I have to think race by race and especially think of Mugello and try to be competitive there.”
Twitter: “At the beginning it was very complicated”
Points haul for @ValeYellow46 at #FrenchGP https://t.co/t4YWZhldFu https://t.co/ABPh4cN3ez (@MotoGP)
The next round of the world championship is set to take place in Mugello on May 22 in front of the Italian legend’s home fans, although he is well liked worldwide which is proven by the noises heard from the fans that roared whenever something went in Rossi’s favour at Le Mans today.
Chances are, Rossi will know who his future teammate will be by the time he gets to Italy as talks appear to be drawing to a close concerning Team Suzuki Ecstar rider Maverick Vinales who joined him on the podium in third, and who is ear-marked for the spot in the Movistar Yamaha camp in place of Lorenzo who is moving to Ducati.
