Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo delivered a brilliant ride today to stay ahead of the main pack and hold on to second place on the podium for the Grand Prix of the Americas. Teammate Valentino Rossi had a difficult start with a slipping clutch but recovered to chase the front pack until losing the front at turn two of lap three, ending his Texas adventure.

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP‘s Jorge Lorenzo delivered a superb performance to secure second on the podium in the Grand Prix of the Americas at the COTA circuit in Texas.

A typical start for the Spaniard saw him grab the holeshot from second on the grid and lead into the first corner. The high pace at the front left him running wide for a couple of corners as the race found a rhythm, dropping as low as fourth before quickly recovering to third to begin hunting Andrea Dovizioso in second place.

With 17 laps to go he was able to make his move up into second but was unable to match the race leader‘s speed. The seasoned GP rider then rode an intelligent race, carefully increasing the gap to third behind him to over 10 seconds at the line for 20 valuable championship points.

Valentino Rossi was disappointed to exit the Texas GP early after finding arguably his best for yet at COTA. A slipping clutch from the start grid complicated his progress for the first few laps, but the nine-time champion was coming back strongly on lap three and beginning to close the gap to those in front. Rossi was battling between fifth and sixth position when he lost the front on turn two with 19 laps to go, ending his Texas adventure.

The race results see Lorenzo move up from fourth into second place in the championship standings on 45 points, with teammate Rossi dropping one place to third and remaining on 33 points.

The MotoGP Championship now heads to Jerez in Spain for the first European Grand Prix of the year on 24th April.

Massimo Meregalli - Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

"It was a good second place for Jorge, he rode a very intelligent race to secure the maximum points he knew he could achieve, 20 important points for the championship. It‘s an important result to take to Europe to a series of tracks he knows very well with a strong record of victories. Unfortunately for Valentino during the start he had to pull the clutch and from that moment it started spinning. As it was recovering he tried to close the gap to the front riders and he crashed. It's a great pity as he was feeling very comfortable on the bike and was potentially capable of his best ever finish in Texas. Despite this it has been a very promising weekend as we were able to make definitive improvements session by session at a track we were concerned about at the start. It‘s been a valuable experience that will help us for next time. Now we finally return to our first European race of the year to a track we know both our riders are capable of winning at, with a package we know is competitive."

Jorge Lorenzo - 2nd +06.107

"It was really important to finish the race and get 20 points after crashing at high speed in the morning, it was really difficult mentally to focus. I tried in warm up and through the few hours before the race to focus and convince myself for the race. It was a difficult beginning, the track was slippery and with the hard rear tyre and the full tank it was difficult to stop especially on braking. I made some mistakes I don't normally do in the first lap. I couldn't keep the pace of Marc, he was making the difference this weekend and in the race. I was fast enough to stay in second place and finish the race. You could see it was difficult to stay on the bike with a lot of crashes. Today the important thing was to finish and I did it."

Valentino Rossi - DNF

"It's a shame because at the start unfortunately I burnt the clutch. I was third but the clutch slipped a lot, so I had to go slow to try and recover the clutch and I lost some positions. At the same time I was not so far, I felt good with the bike, we worked well during the weekend and I felt fast. I had the feeling the clutch was coming back already but I entered turn two, I didn‘t feel from the bike I was too fast but looking at the result maybe I was... It's a shame because we lost some points in the championship and also because we could make a good race. The positive side is that we are strong and very fast, so we will be ready for jerez."