Aragon 1-3 Finish Crown Movistar Yamaha Team World Champions

Yamaha secured their eighth double rostrum finish of the 2015 season in Aragon courtesy of a crushing win from Jorge Lorenzo and a hard-fought third place from Valentino Rossi, which was enough to see the team crowned Team Champions for the first time since 2010.

Lorenzo's win was not only vital in securing the teams title, but also in his own fight in the riders championship. He heads to the triple-header flyaway races having reduced the gap to team-mate Rossi to fourteen points, which has swung the momentum back in the Spaniard's favour following a disastrous San Marino and British Grand Prix.

Jorge started from 2nd and got the holeshot into turn one to snatch the lead away from Marc Marquez. From there he controlled the race, helped somewhat by the demise of the Honda rider at turn twelve on the following tour and a poor qualifying for Rossi. Unchallenged, Lorenzo cruised to his sixth win of the season and his sixtieth overall in Grand Prix motorcycle racing.

“I took a big sigh of relief, because I was pushing so much and my tension-level was very high. I was trying to pull away by some metres from Marquez. I knew it was going to be difficult because my pace was very similar to his and after the warm up I knew his pace was very strong. We probably would have fought all the race and he may have beaten me in the final part because he may not have noticed the drop of the tyres as much, but today I was lucky. I saw his crash on the board and the I had to wait another lap to see the gap to Pedrosa. That was already very big after two laps, but I still couldn't relax because I knew that Dani had Valentino behind him and on this track we can have a good pace. I needed to stay focused and not make any mistakes to maintain the distance and that's what I did all the race. I remained very concentrated and focused and it was worth it.

“I am very proud of the team and very proud of the work that everyone from Yamaha did in Japan. They worked on all aspects (of the bike) but especially on corner entry. That was our main weakness over the previous years. This Team World Championship title, that we secured already four races before the end of the season, means a lot to us. It's been an unbelievable year from the results to the performance of the bike and we are very happy.”

Rossi's afternoon was spent battling a rejuvenated Dani Pedrosa for second place, and despite several attempts Rossi could not keep the Honda rider behind him. The result gave nine points away to Lorenzo, but given that Aragon is something of a bogey circuit for the Italian the outcome could have been far worse.

Once again it was qualifying that let the championship leader down after he managed a lap good enough for 6th – ordinarily a decent result for the Doctor but, with Lorenzo's pace what it was, it needed to be a lot better. Rossi can run the pace of Lorenzo, crucially in the latter stages of the race where he is more often than not faster that the Spaniard. But Lorenzo's pace is so hot at the start of a race that the gap he builds becomes insurmountable. With Motegi next, a track in which Lorenzo has typically been stronger at, Valentino needs to get on top of his qualifying demons or else that points lead will soon turn into a points deficit.

“I try everything, I give the maximum, because for sure it is important to arrive second and lose just the five points to Jorge, but at the end Dani today was very strong. I tried everything, but in the end he arrived in front of me. On the other hand I am happy about the race. First of all because it was very fun, and secondly because I was competitive – I was strong in the race and it was the best of my career in Aragon, for sure, this circuit is always difficult. But now we have to look forward and try to do better. I stayed behind Dani because in the beginning it was very difficult to overtake and I didn't have enough pace to stay in front. So I had to fight for everything in the last lap. I tried to overtake and I didn't have enough pace to stay in front. So I had to fight for everything in the last lap. I tried to overtake where I saw I was strong, but already from the first overtake I saw that Dani today was very strong, because he always came back. I tried to concentrate and stay on the line at entry every time, but on the last lap we touched at one time and I went over the kerb, s at that moment I had to try all or nothing, you know. In the chicane I tried without thinking, but he was able to cross the line somehow.

“Now we go to Motegi. It is a track that I like, where we also last year I did a very good race. But Jorge last year was stronger than me and he was able to win. For this reason we have to try the maximum, the difference is just fourteen points and it will be very difficult, because the advantage is so small. We have to give the maximum, because we are competitive.”

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