Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi put up a fierce fight today to score a double podium finish in the Indianapolis Grand Prix.

Lorenzo marked his return to fitness in style, taking a stunning second at the legendary ‘Brickyard’. Starting from third on the grid, the Spaniard initially dropped back to sixth place in the bunch up of riders on turn two before cutting back through the pack to take his place as a key protagonist of the race.

Teammate Rossi also made a stunning return to form after the summer break. The Doctor had an electrifying start, climbing four places from the second row of the grid to take the lead in the second corner from Andrea Dovizioso. On lap three his teammate Lorenzo arrived at the back of Marc Marquez and together they closed down the gap to the leaders. Within a few laps the tension reached fever pitch as the four rivals came within touching distance as they exchanged places numerous times.

On the tenth lap Rossi led from Marquez, closely followed by Lorenzo and Dovizioso. The order soon changed again when Lorenzo and Marquez both passed Rossi in turn two, the two Yamaha riders almost colliding in the process. Marquez took the lead with Rossi in second while Lorenzo followed in third. He was back on his way to the front when he experienced a big moment in the last corner as his knee clipped the curbstones, causing him to lose vital seconds.

Lorenzo then started to close the gap of 0.4 seconds to his teammate again and overtook him on lap 15. The Mallorcan, closely followed by Rossi, now had his eyes on the win, but by then the gap to Marquez had become too big for him to close. He finished the race in second, 1.803 seconds behind Marquez, whilst Rossi finished in third place with a gap of +6.558 seconds to his teammate.

Lorenzo’s sixth premier class podium finish at the US track moves him up to the fourth position in the standings with 117 points, whist the third place finish keeps Rossi in third on 157 points.

Jorge Lorenzo - 2nd, +1.803

“The beginning of the championship was a little bit of a disaster for me. I didn’t feel comfortable on the bike and made many mistakes. Now I feel a lot better on the bike and I improved my physical condition. I rode well and consistently and I feel very fit on the bike. I ride against very strong riders now; Valentino improved his form this year. He is faster so it is not easy to overtake him and Marc is no longer the rookie rider he was last year. He has a very strong bike and he has more experience and is really fit and riding well. Despite this we are very focused on improving the bike. Yamaha is working very hard, so I am confident that we will get a better bike hopefully for this year, but if not for next season. Maybe on one of the next tracks that suits my riding style we can challenge Marc, but if we want to be a consistent threat to him in every race, we have to improve a bit more and that’s what we are trying to do.”

Valentino Rossi - 3rd, +6.558

“I am satisfied because this is a good third place after a good battle with Jorge and Marc. I led the race, stayed in front and rode well. I’m happy because usually this is a difficult track for me. We worked well with the team and the bike was good for the race. We were able to achieve a good pace, but now we have to make another step to arrive in front of Jorge and Marc.”

Massimo Meregalli - Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

“It is a great result to have both riders on the podium, especially after such an exciting race to watch. The beginning where four or five riders were really fighting was good for the fans! The work they have done to improve the circuit has helped and the track definitely suits our bike a little more. Vale was able to score some valuable points and was consistently there fighting and Jorge is definitely back on form too. We leave here satisfied with our efforts and looking forward to keeping the momentum as we head to Brno.”

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