Valentino Rossi initially dropped a couple of places to fifth off the start line but was quick to re-pass Aleix Espargaro on the first lap to slot into fourth chasing Marquez and Dani Pedrosa ahead.
The Local hero was hot on the tail of Marquez and took advantage of an error by the young Spaniard to dive past up the inside and move into third place chasing Pedrosa. Unfortunately some issues with braking cost some valuable time and Marquez was able to re-pass, leaving Rossi in a lonely fourth position for the remainder of the race to the finish line.
Valentino Rossi
“All the weekend our performance was quite good, I stayed with the top three and I raised my level, especially in qualifying, I could push stronger with the new tyres and make the first row. The expectation for the race was very high, after the start the top guys were very fast but my fastest lap was close to theirs. Unfortunately after some laps I was in trouble in braking and entering corners. I was struggling in hard braking and made some mistakes going wide and step-by-step they pulled away. I made a small mistake on turn seven and lost two seconds and by then already I had too much disadvantage. It's a pity because we wanted to try for the podium here in Italy in front of all the fans in Misano. We hope the weather remains good for tomorrow as we have to try some new parts.”
Yamaha Factory Racing Press Release
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