Movistar Yamaha to Start Dutch GP from First Two Rows

Courtesy of Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales will be starting the TT Assen race from third and sixth position on the grid respectively.

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GRAND PRIX OF THE NETHERLANDS Assen, The Netherlands – 30th June 2018 QUALIFYING 14:35 LOCAL TIME GMT+2 AIR 24°C / TRACK 42°C SUNNY / HUMIDITY 30% 3rd VALENTINO ROSSI 1’32.850 / 8 LAPS 6th MAVERICK VIÑALES 1’32.984 / 8 LAPS

Assen (The Netherlands), 30th June 2018 The high temperatures at the TT Circuit Assen today matched the hot action in the final stages of today‘s Q2 session. With many riders waiting to make a move until the last minute, the outcome of the qualifying was anybody‘s guess. Movistar Yamaha MotoGP‘s Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales rode on the limit on their last flying lap and secured third and sixth place respectively.   Rossi had more than one mission during today’s Q2 session. Having suffered a fast crash in FP4, he used his first run to complete three laps to get back into the groove and recover his feeling with the bike, before putting his head down during his second stint.   Leaving the garage with four and a half minutes left of the session, the Doctor found himself in tenth position and had time for two attempts to better his ranking. He left it late but found a good spot on the track for his final try and clocked a 1’32.850s, just 0.059s from pole, to take third place, on the front row. https://www.googletagservices.com/tag/js/gpt.js var googletag = googletag || {}; googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || []; var siteURL = window.location.hostname; googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.defineSlot(‘/57671086/DigitalThrottle_InPage_Outstream’, [1, 1],’div-gpt-ad-1467074319797-0′) .addService(googletag.pubads()) .setTargeting(“Site_Domain”, siteURL); googletag.enableServices(); googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-1467074319797-0’); });   Similar to his teammate, Viñales delayed his start in the hope of finding some clear space on track. His first hot lap put him in fourth place, but he dropped down the order as the pace quickened. Unable to improve his time on his next try, he dug deeper and posted a 1’33.557s that put him in fifth place, before heading back into the pits with six minutes remaining.   He hurried out of pit lane one and a half minutes later eager to give the time attack another go, but the level of competition proved to be fierce. Multiple riders set red sectors in the final minute of the session and dropped below the 1’33 mark. The Spaniard was one of them and posted a 1’32.984s final lap, earning him sixth place, 0.193s from first.

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MASSIMO MEREGALLI TEAM DIRECTOR Today’s two practice sessions weren’t as easy as yesterday. Valentino suffered a crash in FP4 and Maverick didn’t have the same feeling on the bike as yesterday, so this made qualifying more challenging. Vale took a bit of time in qualifying to get a good feeling on the bike again, before pushing in the final stages. It wasn’t easy to recover his feeling within a few laps, but he still qualified on the front row. Doing that so soon after a fall is a good result and shows his fighting spirit. Maverick has been fast throughout all the sessions, riding with the race configuration. Even though he missed the first row, starting from sixth position is not a bad result, especially considering how close the times of the top riders are. Tonight we’ll check if there’s any possibility to improve both riders’ bikes’ settings, which we will verify during the warm up. We expect tomorrow to be a hard race, with many riders capable of challenging at the front, but we’ll make sure to be ready for the fight.

VALENTINO ROSSI I’m so happy about the front row because I crashed in FP4, so I lost some feeling. It wasn’t easy, but I did three laps with the first tyre and recovered my line and my rhythm, and after that it was a ‘waiting game’. Everybody was waiting but I was in a good position. It was exciting because it was a really hot lap! Normally the top riders are really close, but this weekend even more so. You have many riders and three or four different bikes that can fight for the victory, so this makes it really important to start from the front row. Now we just wait for tomorrow. We hope the weather will stay like this. We have to improve some details and also the tyre choice will be very important, because all the three options are not so bad. It will be important to find the right way.

MAVERICK VIÑALES It was more difficult to be competitive compared to yesterday, but today we tried to give our best as always. We were focused more on riding with a heavy bike, so I had some issues when I pushed for a hot lap time, but anyway I think we can do well tomorrow. We still need to discuss the tyre choice with Michelin and the team. Starting from sixth is not bad, and for sure I will try to make a good start. I’ll be on the attack in the early laps and try to repeat what we’ve done in the practice sessions. We’ve worked a lot to prepare for the race, let’s see if it pays off. There are many riders with the same rhythm with different tyres, so it’s going to be an interesting race and tricky for sure. I know we can be there, if we work well tonight and choose the correct set-up.