MotoGP news

Rossi delighted with most ever podiums

Valentino Rossi's crushing defeat of the opposition saw him set a new record for the highest number of MotoGP podium finishes on Sunday. With Casey Stoner absence and Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo's retirement, the Italian's win in the Czech Grand Prix sees him stretch his championship lead to a large half century.

With Lorenzo having beaten Rossi in all weekend sessions bar qualifying, it was the latter who led from pole position on Sunday before being eased of added pressure when his team-mate, who took the lead on Lap 5, fell. "This is a very important victory for us!" Valentino said after the race. "Jorge had shown all weekend that he was very strong and, when we still weren't feeling perfect after the warm-up, we decided to make one more small modification to improve the feeling with the front and the result was brilliant.

Rossi's win at Brno was his 102nd in MotoGP

"My Yamaha really flew today - I got a good start and I was able to ride exactly how I wanted, using all of the track to get the best lines. At the end, when Jorge passed me, I thought that the fight was starting and I was really ready for it, but then he made a mistake and crashed. Of course I'm sorry; it's really bad for him but I have to say that it's great for us because now we have an advantage of 50 points with six races to go."

Although his 160th podium finish moves him ahead of Giacomo Agostini in the all-time record books, Rossi is not resting his laurels. "It would be very stupid to relax now because Jorge is very strong and, for sure, we expect another hard fight with him at Indianapolis. Today I arrived at the top of the all-time podium list and I'm very proud of this, especially here at Brno where I took my first victory 13 years ago! Thanks to Yamaha and my team for today - it was a great win."

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