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Page 4 of 5
From Fiat Yamaha Press
SEVENTH HEAVEN FOR ROSSI AS HE TAKES RUNAWAY MUGELLO
VICTORY
Valentino Rossi brought the house down once again in Mugello
today with an emotional seventh straight victory at his home track in front of
96,000 adoring fans. It was the Fiat Yamaha Team Rider’s ninth win in total and
fifth for Yamaha at this track and also his third win in a row this season, the
first time he has won three consecutive races since 2005. His 91st victory is
also a first for Bridgestone at this track.
Starting from pole for the
first time in almost a year, Rossi set nerves on edge when he slipped a few
places at the start, exiting turn one in fourth. He soon passed his compatriot
Loris Capirossi however and crossed the line for the first time hot on the heels
of Stoner and Pedrosa. Lap three saw him pass Pedrosa and then Stoner next time
around, leaving him in the lead. From then on it was the Italian’s race and he
stretched the gap to more than three seconds at one point, before rolling off
slightly in the later stages as the temperature increased. He eventually crossed
the line 2.201 seconds clear of Stoner, with his army of yellow-clad tifosi
singing him home from the hillsides before invading the track, as is tradition
here, and swarming under the podium.
It was a day of contrasts for the
Fiat Yamaha Team as Jorge Lorenzo, in his 100th Grand Prix, slid out of the race
on lap seven when looking strong in sixth place. Rossi is now 12 points clear of
Pedrosa at the top of the championship and Lorenzo is 16 points off him in
third. The team now heads directly to Barcelona for the Catalunya Grand Prix in
just seven day’s time.
Rossi:
“After winning the championship, winning at Mugello is the
next best thing for me and once again today it was like a dream. There is no way
to describe the feeling I have standing on the podium in front of all of my fans
here and I am so happy that I could win once again today. To win for the seventh
time running at my home track is amazing but I felt quite a lot of pressure
about this, so it’s a relief as well because I didn’t want to disappoint
everyone! It’s been a hard weekend for everyone because of the bad weather and
the lack of dry track time, but my crew have done a fantastic job with the bike
and my M1 was wonderful today. Once I got to the front I was able to make a gap
from the others but towards the end it was unbelievably hot and it became quite
hard to ride. I wanted to ease off a bit but Casey was pushing hard behind so I
had to keep going. Thanks to all of my team, to the engineers and of course to
Bridgestone! I’m really glad that I’ve been the one to give them their first win
at this track and they did a great job today because my tyre worked virtually
the same from start to finish. It’s been a fantastic day, it’s always one of the
best moments of the year for me and now we’ve made a bit more of the gap at the
top of the championship so things couldn’t be better. Honestly after this
weekend I think I would like to go to bed for five days but now we have to go
straight to Barcelona!”
LORENZO SUFFERS DISAPPOINTMENT IN MUGELLO
Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo had a disappointing
100th Grand Prix today, crashing out of the Italian round of the championship on
lap seven when running strongly in sixth place. His team-mate Valentino Rossi on
the other hand took an outstanding victory, his seventh consecutive win at his
home track.
Lorenzo, who is still not quite at 100% after suffering two
fractured ankles in China one month ago, had struggled all weekend to find a
good set-up, hampered by the lack of dry track time after losing Friday and
Saturday morning to rain. Starting from seventh however he seemed to have found
a better rhythm and was lapping as fast as the leaders when he made a mistake at
turn ten, lost the front and slid into the gravel trap. It was a frustrating end
to the weekend for the young Spaniard who was hoping for more after already
having taken three poles, a race win and three podiums since he joined Yamaha at
the start of the season.
Valentino Rossi’s maximum points haul today
moves him 12 points clear at the top of the championship, whilst Lorenzo slips
to third, 16 points behind Dani Pedrosa. He will not have to wait long to make
up for today’s disappointment however as the paddock now heads straight to
Barcelona and his home track for the Catalunya round next Sunday.
Lorenzo:
“We have had a lot of problems this weekend but today for the
race I was feeling very motivated and I got a good start. I think I could have
fought for the podium and I can only say sorry to my team and to all of my fans;
it was my mistake. I shouldn’t have tried to pass Dovizioso in this corner, it
wasn’t the right place and I will learn from it. I am not worried about my
mental condition though and I am now focused on Catalunya. Montmelo is coming
and this is a good thing because I only have to wait five days until I can ride
the bike again. In China we had to make some changes to the bike to enable me to
ride in my condition and since then maybe we haven’t been exactly right with the
set-up, but now we know where the problem is. Congratulations to Rossi, he was
the best today!”
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