Many people wrote Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha) off, years ago for some, and more recent for others when he renewed is contract with Movistar Yamaha during the 2016 season. But he has once again proved that he still has what it takes to do what he needs to do in the MotoGP series, as he finished second at the Gran Premio Motul de la Republica Argentina collecting his 223rd trophy on his 350th GP start.

Poor results for Rossi leading up to the 2017 Argentina GP

It didn’t seem that a podium was going to be possible as during Free Practice 1 at the Termos de Rio Hondo the Italian nine times world champion was down in 16th on the timesheets. This is where he remained by the end of Free Practice 2. At a wet track for Free Practice 3 he could only manage 12th so he had to use Qualifying 1 in the hope he would finish in the top two so he could progress through to Qualifying 2.

The final Free Practice session saw him drop a place down to 13th overall, it wasn’t really looking good. But then he pulled it out of the bag during the first Qualifying session and finished second behind Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda). This gave him the access he needed to join in during Qualifying 2 and he was able to set a quick enough lap to place him seventh on the grid.

Great start from the Movistar Yamaha duo

When the race got underway, he like his teammate Maverick Vinales (Movistar Yamaha) was able to push his way to the front. After a few corners he was in fourth, Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) and Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) were ahead of him as well as Vinales. On lap three Vinales bypassed Crutchlow to take second, and the British rider then had to deal with the Italian who was now applying the pressure.

Marquez made a mistake on lap four when he crashed out of the lead at turn two of the track. This meant that Vinales now led ahead of Crutchlow and Rossi who was in hot pursuit. As Vinales extended over a two second lead, Crutchlow was able to keep Rossi behind him. Both the Movistar Yamaha riders had opted for the medium compound Michelin Power Slicks on the front and rear whereas Crutchlow had opted for the hard front and medium rear.

Rossi makes his move on Crutchlow

On the 17th lap Rossi looked close enough to make a move heading into turn one at the end of the start-finish straight but Crutchlow ‘shut the door’ on the Italian,. A few corners later at turn five, Rossi was successful in his pass on Crutchlow but the feisty Brit bit back. Rossi was safe, Crutchlow could not catch and overtake him, and with Vinales having extended now almost a three second lead, Rossi crossed the line to finish the Argentina GP in second.

Special result for Rossi’s 350th race

Afterwards Rossi spoke of how prior to the race his mechanic Brent said to him on the grid, “It’s the 350th, try to make it a good race!” He was left feeling “happy” because he found he was “competitive today from the first lap to the last lap”. He explained how he “felt better physically” and that he “trained hard so he] felt good on the bike” and so that he “could push throughout the whole race”.

He also felt that his “concentration is good” and he found that the “battle with Cal was good also because [he] was able to beat him”. Despite knowing that “Maverick was a bit faster” he knew that “this result was really important” for him and the whole team and said, “Yamaha 1-2 is great!” Analysing things he “didn’t think the results would have been different” if he had “passed Cal earlier in the race”.

Rossi knows Vinales was stronger

Delving further into it he spoke of how they looked at the lap times which confirmed “Maverick was a bit stronger” and said, “That’s just the way it is today”. After now running four rounds at the Termos de Rio Hondo since it was added to the MotoGP calendar, Rossi confirmed that the “track is always tricky” as he mentioned that they have experienced many problems there in the past. As well as the “bumps and slipperiness” when the rain was added into the mix Rossi said, “You have to pay attention and you also have to be lucky.

Finishing second Rossi said, “For us this is good” as they went and “took some important points for the championship” and he also “felt really good with the bike” on race-day.

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About the author
Danielle Overend
Passionate about everything motorcycles and Moto GP!