The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team showed their fighting spirit throughout the 28-lap NeroGiardini Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich at the Red Bull Ring – Spielberg, but a lack of rear grip denied them the chance to challenge at the front. Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi secured sixth and seventh place
GRAND PRIX OF AUSTRIA
Spielberg, Austria – 13th August 2017
RACE
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP‘s Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi had the throttle fully open at the NeroGiardini Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich, as they contended in a seven-rider fight at the front in the early stages of the race. The teammates lost some time, running wide in turn 1 in separate incidents, but they put their heads down to collect crucial championship points, taking sixth and seventh place respectively.
Viñales had a good start and held on to his fourth place going into the first corner. He briefly made a move on Rossi on lap 3, but couldn‘t make it stick. He was eager to have another go in turn 1 on the next lap, but ran wide and fell back to seventh place.
The young Spaniard didn‘t let the small error upset his rhythm and, with 15 laps to go, he was back behind his teammate, ready to join the seven-rider fight for the lead. As Rossi went wide in turn one, Viñales moved up to sixth. On lap 17 the young gun was ready to take on Johann Zarco. He was looking threatening behind the satellite rider for the remainder of the race, but was not able to squeeze his number 25 bike past the Frenchman, and crossed the line in sixth place, 7.447s from the front.
Starting the race from seventh on the grid, Rossi slotted into fifth place storming towards turn 1, and quickly fought his way to fourth past his teammate. He withstood the pressure Viñales put on him in the opening laps, as he chased the leading trio.
The Doctor reached the back of Marc Marquez‘s bike on lap eight, bringing Zarco with him, but encountered a set-back. A block pass from the fellow Yamaha rider pushed the Italian back to sixth behind the chasing Dani Pedrosa. Running wide in turn 1, with 15 laps to go, Rossi soon fell back behind Viñales to seventh. He was eager to follow his teammate, but was unable to keep up a consistent pace in the high 1‘24s and low 1‘25s, and decided to focus on bringing home his bike in seventh place, 8.995s from first.
Today’s race results see Viñales move back to third in the championship standings, 24 points behind the leader and 9 points ahead of Rossi. The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team holds second place in the team rankings, with a 22-point margin to the front. In the Constructor championship, Yamaha holds the top spot. They are on equal points with Honda, each having earned 211 in total and both scored four GP wins, but Yamaha earned one more second place so far this season.
The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team will have a private test at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli next week on Sunday, August 20th. After that the team will be back in action in two weeks‘ time for the Octo British Grand Prix at the Silverstone Circuit.
MASSIMO MEREGALLI
TEAM DIRECTOR
We had anticipated that this would be a challenging race, that would be hard on the tyres. We decided to go with the hard rear spec this morning, but in the end this didn‘t pay off as we had hoped. The start of the race went well: both Maverick and Valentino were able to compete at the front of the field, but after 10 laps they started to suffer from a lack of grip from the rear tyre. It was unfortunate that this cost us some valuable points in the championship challenge, but the riders did well to hold on to sixth and seventh place and bring home the best results possible under these circumstances. The team will work hard to find a solution for the issue before the race at Silverstone, at the private test in Misano next weekend.
MAVERICK VIÑALES
Rider 6th
+7.447 / 28 LAPS
I suffered from a big drop in grip of the rear tyre for almost the entire race. When I went wide as I was fighting with Valentino, I just tried to calm down, make the tyre work until the end, but it was totally impossible. Not only with other manufacturers, but also with Zarco, it was really difficult to keep following them. We have to work really hard if we want to fight for this championship. I like Silverstone a lot, it is one of the best tracks on the calendar. I always like going there, I really like the lay-out. I will go for the best result possible, trying to be on top.
VALENTINO ROSSI
Rider 7th
+8.995 / 28 LAPS
Today the problems started after ten or twelve laps. Unfortunately, we stressed the rear tyre too much, so the rear tyre dropped a lot and we lost a lot of performance and speed. From that moment on it was very difficult to control the bike and I also made a mistake on the brakes. I didn‘t have the pace in the second half of the race, I suffered too much from a lack of grip. It‘s a shame because we worked a lot, but it looks like it’s the same problem as we had in Jerez and Barcelona. When we use the rear tyre too much, the bike becomes slower and more difficult to ride in the second half of the race. For sure we have to work a lot mechanically and also on the electronics to improve this problem.
RACE RESULTS
13/08/2017
1. A. DOVIZIOSO DUCATI TEAM 39’43.323
2. M. MARQUEZ REPSOL HONDA TEAM + 00.176
3. D. PEDROSA REPSOL HONDA TEAM + 2.661
4. J. LORENZO DUCATI TEAM + 6.663
5. J. ZARCO MONSTER YAMAHA TECH3 + 7.262
6. M. VIÑALES MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP + 7.447
7. V. ROSSI MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP + 8.995
8. A. BAUTISTA PULL&BEAR ASPAR TEAM + 14.515
9. L. BAZ REALE AVINTIA RACING + 19.620
10. M. KALLIO RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING + 19.766
11. A. IANNONE TEAM SUZUKI ECSTAR + 20.101
12. S. REDDING OCTO PRAMAC RACING + 25.523
13. A. ESPARGARÒ APRILIA RACING TEAM GRESINI + 26.700
14. K. ABRAHAM PULL&BEAR ASPAR TEAM + 27.321
15. C. CRUTCHLOW LCR HONDA + 28.096
16. A. RINS TEAM SUZUKI ECSTAR + 32.912
17. H. BARBERA REALE AVINTIA RACING + 34.112
18. B. SMITH RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING + 36.423
19. T. RABAT TEAM EG 0,0 MARC VDS + 42.404
20. S. LOWES APRILIA RACING TEAM GRESINI + 52.492
21. J. MILLER TEAM EG 0,0 MARC VDS N.C. (9 laps)
22. D. PETRUCCI OCTO PRAMAC RACING N.C. (22 laps)
23. J. FOLGER MONSTER YAMAHA TECH3 N.C. (25 laps)
24. P. ESPARGARÒ RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING N.C. (26 laps)
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSIFICATION
RIDER
1. Marc Marquez (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 174
2. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Ducati Team 158
3. Maverick Viñales (SPA) Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 150
4. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 141
5. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 139
6. Johann Zarco (FRA) Monster Yamaha Tech3 99
7. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Ducati Team 79
8. Jonas Folger (GER) Monster Yamaha Tech3 77
9. Cal Crutchlow (GBR) LCR Honda 76
10. Danilo Petrucci (ITA) Octo Pramac Racing 75
11. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Pull&Bear Aspar Team 52
12. Jack Miller (AUS) Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS 43
13. Aleix Espargarò (SPA) Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 43
14. Loris Baz (FRA) Reale Avintia Racing 38
15. Scott Redding (GBR) Octo Pramac Racing 37
16. Andrea Iannone (ITA) Team Suzuki Ecstar 33
17. Karel Abraham (CZE) Pull&Bear Aspar Team 25
18. Tito Rabat (SPA) Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS 23
19. Hector Barbera (SPA) Reale Avintia Racing 21
20. Pol Espargarò (SPA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 21
21. Alex Rins (SPA) Team Suzuki Ecstar 14
22. Bradley Smith (GBR) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 8
23. Michele Pirro (ITA) Ducati Team 7
24. Sam Lowes (GBR) Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 2
25. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Team Suzuki Ecstar 1
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSIFICATION
CONSTRUCTOR
1. Honda 211
2. Yamaha 211
3. Ducati 187
4. Suzuki 45
5. Aprilia 45
6. KTM 29
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSIFICATION
TEAM
1. REPSOL HONDA TEAM 313
2. MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP 291
3. DUCATI TEAM 237
4. MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3 176
5. OCTO PRAMAC YAKHNICH 112
6. ASPAR TEAM MOTOGP 77
7. LCR HONDA 76
8. ESTRELLA GALICIA 0,0 MARC VDS 66
9. AVINTIA RACING 59
10. TEAM SUZUKI ECSTAR 46
11. APRILIA RACING TEAM GRESINI 45
12. RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING 29
