Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi secured second at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya after a race long battle.

The nine-time World Champion battled all race with the Repsol Honda pair of Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez. Rossi was able to lead for a large part of the race, even having an advantage of over one second after Marquez ran wide at one stage.

There was some confusion at Turn Three mid-race due to a yellow flag, causing the leading group to close up. The last few laps saw Marquez and Pedrosa create a small gap, however Pedrosa touched Marquez’s back wheel on the final lap, causing the pole setter to run wide. Rossi was able to take advantage of this and grab second with just one corner left.

This was the Italian rider’s fifth podium of the year. He sits in second in the standings with 117 points, five clear of Pedrosa.

"I think that it’s my best race of the season," said Rossi afterwards. "I enjoyed it a lot. I am very satisfied. I made a good lap in qualifying despite not feeling confident. We modified the bike with the team and I had a lot more front feeling, I was stronger and faster. I felt good coming into the race despite my little slide!" commented Rossi referring to his morning Warm Up crash.

He added, "I pushed at the start. The temperature was better for us, if it was hotter we could not have fought for the victory. I started to taste the victory some laps from the end, but then Marc overtook me and then Dani overtook me so I lost a bit. It was impossible to come back."



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