ROSSI REACHES 90 WINS WITH PEERLESS DISPLAY TO HEAD ALL-YAMAHA PODIUM

Valentino Rossi made another historic step in his incredible career today when he took his 90th career victory in Le Mans, equalling the record set by the great Angel Nieto, to move into second in the all-time winners list behind Giacomo Agostini. It was an outstanding display from the Fiat Yamaha Team rider and he celebrated in fine style when Nieto joined him on his slow-down lap, the Spaniard taking charge of the bike with Rossi riding pillion behind him.

It was a superb day for Yamaha in general as Jorge Lorenzo once again defied his injuries to ride into an astonishing second place behind his team-mate and Tech 3 Yamaha rider Colin Edwards joined the pair on the podium in third place.

Rossi had an average start and was tailing the lead group in fifth at the end of lap one. It was soon clear how well his Yamaha-Bridgestone package was working however and he picked off first Nicky Hayden then Edwards and Dani Pedrosa to move into second behind Casey Stoner, before passing him too on lap eight. From then on Rossi was too strong for the chasing pack, stretching his lead lap after lap until some spots of rain forced him to slow slightly in the last third of the race. The sun soon came back out however, allowing the riders to continue without changing bikes and the Italian to cross the line 4.997 seconds in front to take his first back-to-back victory since 2006.

The 29-year-old’s 90th win moves him two points clear at the top of the championship with 97 points, whilst Lorenzo and Pedrosa are just behind him with 94 points each. Rossi will now stay here for two days of testing to ready himself for his home race at Mugello in Italy in two week’s time, when he will be looking for his 7th consecutive win at the track.



VALENTINO ROSSI



Position: 1st Time: 44'30.799


“To arrive at 90 wins like this and equal Angel’s record is a dream for me. I had quite a lot of pressure because Angel was waiting with the special leathers to join me on the bike, so I really needed to win! It was great to ride with him – I think maybe with some practice he can be as fast as us! 180 victories together on one bike is quite impressive I think! Honestly I didn’t expect to be so fast today but together with Jeremy and my guys we decided to make some small modifications this morning and in the race my M1 and my Bridgestone tyres worked brilliantly from start to finish. When is started to rain a little bit I thought “oh no!’ and so I steadied a bit and tried to ride very sweetly; I had such a good rhythm and I really didn’t want to have to change bikes. Luckily the rain soon stopped and I was able to continue in the same way. It’s great for Yamaha to have the first three and I want to congratulate Jorge especially for doing such a good job in his condition. Thanks to everybody in the team; the job that Yamaha has done in three months is incredible. I enjoyed myself so much today, the atmosphere in our garage is perfect and now we will make two important days of testing, try to improve even more and then head to Mugello!”




DAVIDE BRIVIO


Team manager


“What a day for Yamaha and for Valentino! This is a great victory, Valentino was even stronger than in China and now we are leading the championship. Our team, engineers and Bridgestone are doing a fantastic job and now we need to maintain this form through the busy run of races coming up. Next stop Mugello, which is a very important race for all of us, so we’ll be working hard at the test here to make sure we are in the best shape to try to repeat this result!”






Results


1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team
44'30.799

2. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team
+ 4.997

3. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha
+ 6.805

4. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda
+ 10.157

5. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki
+ 21.762

6. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP
+ 22.395

7. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
+ 27.806

8. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda
+ 27.995

9. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP
+ 29.344

10. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini
+ 30.822

11. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team
+ 35.154

12. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini
+ 36.216

13. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team
+ 52.038

14. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing
+ 1'29.307

15. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro
1 Lap

16. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro
2 Lap

NOT CLASSIFIED

John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing
12 Lap

James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha
26 Lap


Championship Standings



1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team
97

2. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team
94

3. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda
94

4. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro
56

5. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha
47

6. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
42

7. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda
37

8. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP
36

9. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha
33

10. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini
28

11. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing
26

12. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki
25

13. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro
24

14. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team
20

15. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP
18

16. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini
11

17. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team
7

18. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing
5


Le Mans: Record Lap
V. Rossi (Yamaha) 2006, 1'35.087

Le Mans: Best Lap
C. Edwards (Yamaha) 2007, 1'33.616