MASSIVE WIN today
may be the critical lead in points he need to run the the finish
Valentino Rossi turned the tables on team-mate and title rival Jorge Lorenzo with victory at a wet and wild British MotoGP.
But the Italian faced a shock late challenge from Danilo Petrucci after 'relaxing' too much following Marc Marquez's accident with eight laps to go.
Lorenzo and Marquez dominated the dry practice sessions at Silverstone, but race day rain swung the balance in Rossi's favour - the Italian quickest in warm-up.
“This morning when I woke up and saw the rain, I didn't know if it was good news or not because during this season we don't have a lot of data for the wet,” said Rossi, who began the race fourth on the grid and tied with Lorenzo at the top of the championship standings.
“But I think the work of my team made the difference and also my Yamaha was fantastic. From the first lap in warm-up we found a good balance and I was very strong.”
There was a further twist when the weather improved and riders lined up on slicks - only for a rain shower to force the start to be delayed as the entire grid dived into the pits on the sighting lap.
“On the grid I was quite scared because it was the worst conditions possible; cold, a little bit of rain, starting on slicks and a fast track,” Rossi said.
“So I was happy that it started to rain more on the warm-up lap. From that point I knew I had the pace.”
Rossi was challenging the two leading Spaniards by the end of the opening lap, passing them both on lap 2 of 20. But he couldn't shake off Marquez.
“I made a good start and tried to go but Marc came with me,” Rossi said. “I could hear him, tried the maximum and set very good lap times but it was very difficult to take an advantage.
“So I thought it would go down to the last lap with Marc again, which is always very difficult!”
The last time Rossi and Marquez fought for the lead they collided at the final turn of the Dutch TT. This time there was to be no such showdown, with Marquez thrown from his Honda with eight laps to go.
“I saw him in the gravel on the big screen and I couldn't hear him behind me, so I relaxed. Also because it was raining more,” Rossi said.
That should have handed Rossi a safe fourth win of the season, but one challenger was soon replaced by another with countryman Danilo Petrucci riding the race of his life.
“Sincerely I expected to have eight-seconds of advantage over Petrucci, but when I crossed the line I had just four seconds. I thought 'hummm, ok'. Then the next lap, three seconds.”
Rossi's lead continued to decrease until the Pramac Ducati rider was just 1.5s behind.
“My mistake was that I relaxed for one lap, because I thought I had more of an advantage. Also I didn't want to throw everything away and it started to rain more,” Rossi said.
“But this is MotoGP - you can never relax: In every situation, in every practice, people want to beat you.
“I did the calculation and with five laps still to go Danilo could beat me. So I had to restart and push again. It was a crucial moment and also I think Danilo didn't want to throw away the first podium of his career. So I stayed concentrated, the bike helped me a lot and afterwards I saw he gave up [on the win].”
The Doctor was able to rebuild some of his advantage and took the chequered flag with a three-second victory margin. With Lorenzo only fourth, Rossi has now rebuilt a twelve point title lead.
“It was a great feeling,” said Rossi. “This victory is so important because sincerely speaking in the dry I think it was difficult to arrive in front of Jorge.”
Round 13 of 18 will be Rossi's home round at Misano, where he claimed victory one year ago.
1. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 46m 15.617s
2. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP14.1) 46m 18.627s
3. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP15) 46m 19.734s
4. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 46m 21.343s
5. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 46m 26.749s
6. Scott Redding GBR Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 46m 41.084s
7. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 46m 42.334s
8. Andrea Iannone ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP15) 46m 45.010s
9. Aleix Espargaro ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 46m 54.432s
10. Alvaro Bautista ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 46m 57.329s
11. Maverick Viñales ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)* 47m 0.393s
12. Nicky Hayden USA Aspar MotoGP Team (RC213V-RS) 47m 8.106s
13. Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14 Open) 47m 26.828s
14. Mike Di Meglio FRA Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14 Open) 47m 30.909s
15. Alex De Angelis RSM E-Motion IodaRacing (ART) 47m 33.480s
16. Loris Baz FRA Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha)* 47m 34.927s
17. Eugene Laverty IRL Aspar MotoGP Team (RC213V-RS)* 47m 35.352s
18. Claudio Corti ITA Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha) 48m 13.703s
19. Karel Abraham CZE AB Motoracing (RC213V-RS) +1 lap
Pol Espargaro ESP Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) DNF
Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) DNF
Stefan Bradl GER Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) DNF
Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) DNF
Jack Miller AUS LCR Honda (RC213V-RS)* DNF
Yonny Hernandez COL Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) DNF
Current Points:
1 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 236
2 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 224
3 Marc Marquez Honda 159
4 Andrea Iannone Ducati 150
5 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 120
6 Bradley Smith Yamaha 115
7 Dani Pedrosa Honda 102
8 Danilo Petrucci Ducati 83
9 Pol Espargaro Yamaha 81
10 Cal Crutchlow Honda 74
11 Maverick Vinales Suzuki 67
12 Aleix Espargaro Suzuki 60
13 Scott Redding Honda 47
14 Yonny Hernandez Ducati 41
15 Hector Barbera Ducati 23
16 Alvaro Bautista Aprilla 22
17 Loris Baz Yamaha Forward 15
18 Nicky Hayden Honda 12
19 Jack Miller Honda 12
20 Stefan Bradl Yamaha Forward 11
21 Michele Pirro Ducati 8
22 Eugene Laverty Honda 7
23 Hiroshi Aoyama Honda 5
24 Mike di Meglio Ducati 4
25 Alex de Angelis ART 2