Ecstatic Rossi enjoys special win in front of family and friends
Valentino Rossi claimed his 107th career win at the Gran Premio TIM di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, aboard his Yamaha YZR-M1.
Rossi returned to the top step of the podium for the first time since Assen 2013, claiming Yamaha’s first win of the year. The local hero made an excellent start from third, quickly passing teammate Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) to lead, to the delight of local fans.
Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda MotoGP) battled the nine time World Champion, but lost the front of his RC213V at Rio corner, allowing Rossi to run away with the win. The Italian finished 1.578s ahead of Lorenzo.
The victory gives Rossi 5,012 career points in total and makes him the first rider to achieve 5,000 points across all the classes, with 4,070 amassed in the premier class alone. The road to this record breaking number has seen him take 192 podiums across all classes, 156 in MotoGP.
This is also Rossi’s first win at home in Italy since Misano in 2009.
Rossi now has 214 championship points, just one behind Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), who finished third, as the battle for second intensifies.
"During the weekend we understood that the Yamaha was very strong and that we had a small advantage over the Hondas. In cases like this where Marquez wins it seems a little difficult, but you get motivated because you think ‘today could be the win,’ but it is always hard. We worked well with the team and made a good qualifying," said Rossi.
He added, "I had a good start to the race and battled with Marc and Jorge, I knew Marc wanted to stay in front. After I saw the board and understood that he had crashed or something it was a little easier as I already had a small advantage over Jorge. It has been five years since my last victory here, a similar race too, it’s like a time machine!"
"My first target was to win a race, this was a better win than Assen. In Assen Jorge broke a collarbone so he was not so solid. This year I’m faster, I finished four times behind Marquez in second. Now we can fight with Dani for second," he concluded.
