MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP SHAPE UP FOR SILVERSTONE SPRINT

With last year‘s British Grand Prix win still fresh in their memory, the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team is ready to fight at the front of the field again this weekend.

Silverstone (UK), 31st August 2016

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP‘s Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo are eager to start the British Grand Prix held this weekend at the Silverstone Circuit.

Rossi arrives at the twelfth round feeling confident after securing second place at the last race in Brno, making it a total of five podium finishes so far this season. He looks forward to riding the fast sweeping corners of Silverstone, where he rode his YZR-M1 to his first victory at this track last year. He had been successful on British soil at Donington Park in previous years, having secured three modern era premier class wins in 2002, 2004 and 2005, and two 500cc victories in 2000 and 2001.

After a difficult last race, that saw Lorenzo having to come into the pits due to tyre problems, the Mallorcan is set on making a strong comeback this weekend at a circuit where the odds are in his favour: he holds the record for the rider with the most MotoGP wins at Silverstone. Over the last six years Lorenzo has secured three premier class victories, in 2010, 2012 and 2013, and is eager add a fourth to his tally this weekend.

Silverstone made its first appearance on the MotoGP calendar in 2010 and is one of the fastest tracks on the calendar thanks to innovations to the circuit‘s lay-out, earning it high praise from the riders. The racing passion of the British fans also adds to the atmosphere of the venue, making the British Grand Prix a must-be-at event.

MASSIMO MEREGALLI

TEAM DIRECTOR

We are going to Silverstone, which is a very fast circuit and suits the YZR-M1 well. Over the last few years we always achieved good results there and after a successful test that we had Monday a week ago, we are confident that we can be very competitive, especially since we can use some new items that we tried out at the IRTA test, which have shown to enhance our performance. Furthermore, both riders enjoy spending time at Silverstone because of its great lay-out. With a British rider winning a GP so recently, after many years, we hope to see an even bigger crowd than usual.

VALENTINO ROSSI

MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP RIDER

I have very nice recent memories of Silvertone. Last year I won a really incredible race in very difficult conditions. I hope that this year there will be nice weather, but from the climatic point of view the English race is very uncertain. I like Silverstone a lot, it‘s a very fun track but also very demanding. This circuit is very long and there are many changes of direction with high speeds. It is important to find a perfect set-up for the bike to be able to suit both the slow and the fast corners. We will try to work on all aspects, as we have been doing the entire season to get the best possible result.

JORGE LORENZO

MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP RIDER

After the two back-to-back races in Austria and Brno the situation is not as we desired beforehand but we can‘t change that. From now on we need to think race by race and just try to get the best results day by day. Silverstone is the next stop so we have to push at the maximum there and enjoy riding with the bike again. That track is one of my favourite circuits in the world but unfortunately the weather is always very unpredictable. Let‘s see if we can deliver a great race again there!