Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Shapes Up for Sachsenring Showdown
After an action packed race in Assen, the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team looks forward to another sensational weekend at the Sachsenring circuit this weekend.
Gerno di Lesmo (Italy), 8th July 2015
Barely recovered from an eventful race in the Netherlands a fortnight ago, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP‘s Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo are looking forward to arriving in Germany for this weekend‘s Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland.
The previous GP in Assen saw Valentino Rossi secure his third win of the season in a fantastic finale in the final chicane before the start finish straight. Teammate Jorge Lorenzo also rode a strong race, having started from eighth on the grid, to secure a podium with third place. These results give both riders an extra confidence boost ahead of this forthcoming race that will conclude the first half of the 2015 MotoGP season.
Rossi arrives at Sachsenring with a ten point advantage over teammate Lorenzo and continues his mission of extending his lead in the championship. Despite the narrow and slow nature of the circuit his race results at the German track are impressive and have led him to stand on the podium ten times in his career. The Doctor has won four premier class races at the circuit and hopes to add another victory this year.
Teammate Lorenzo is also familiar with the rostrum at Sachsenring. Last year he, like the majority of the riders, started the race from the pit lane after a last-minute bike swap. As a dry line formed, he rode a brilliant race to take third. Prior to this result the Spaniard held an impressive podium streak from 2009 until 2012, scoring four consecutive second places at the German circuit. This year he sets out to conquer the top step of the podium at Sachsenring for the first time in his career.
Sachsenring held its first race in 1927, but was rebuilt in 1996 for safety reasons. Just two years later the track hosted its first MotoGP event and has continuously been updated since.
The just 12m wide, flowing tarmac and multiple slow corners make this circuit one of the hardest tracks to overtake at, but there is still plenty of close racing action to keep the thousands of fans on the edge of their seats.
VALENTINO ROSSI
I’m ready for Sachsenring and am going into this race weekend with a happy mindset. I managed to recover a bit of an advantage that I had lost in past races. Having a ten point lead after eight races is not bad, I’m very happy. Now we go to Germany and it will be very important to reconfirm how competitive we are. We understand that our competitors are working hard to return at the front and in Assen we succeeded in staying ahead. Marquez will probably be with us in the next races and we must be very careful with him. At Sachsenring my first goal will be to work as we have done in the Netherlands, starting from the first free practice. Jorge I’m sure will come back strong, making it even more important to work well this weekend. After Sachsenring there will be a break and it will be important to rest a bit before taking on the second part of the season.
JORGE LORENZO
In theory Sachsenring is a worse track for us than Assen. It never suited the Yamaha perfectly in the past so it‘s a very challenging circuit. I have never won in Germany, so I‘m keen to get on the top step at least once. You never know, maybe it could happen this season because it‘s been a bit strange. I love Assen but this year something changed and I didn‘t find the perfect set up to be more competitive. During the race I struggled more than I expected but we understood how to solve it for the future. Sachsenring is a good racetrack with a nice atmosphere and a lot of fans. In the past I was close to winning a couple of times but I never did it. This year our bike‘s performance is good so I think we can achieve higher goals than in the recent years.
MASSIMO MEREGALLI
TEAM DIRECTOR
After a great weekend in Assen we‘re all excited to go to Germany and get back on track on Friday morning at the Sachsenring circuit. Both Vale and Jorge are in great shape and also our bike is very competitive, so we‘re feeling confident and want to get to work as soon as possible. Last year we had an unpredictable German GP with mixed conditions, but we were still able to score good results and our expectations are high again this weekend. The fans and the atmosphere at Sachsenring are always fantastic, so we look forward to a great show.