BRIDGESTONE MOTORSPORTS:

Valentino Rossi made the best use of his extra hard front and hard rear Bridgestone slicks to score his fifth victory of the season in convincing fashion.

Before his teammate Jorge Lorenzo crashed out five laps from the flag, the Fiat Yamaha duo had recorded a combined total of 29 laps each faster than the previous lap record set in 2008.

On Bridgestone’s slicks, the pace was very fast all weekend. In qualifying Rossi set a new pole position best, and using the harder of Bridgestone’s compound options during the race the Italian’s pace was sufficient to set a total race time 20 seconds faster than that of last year. On lap 16, amid the fierce battle for the lead, Jorge Lorenzo claimed a new lap record. Next to cross the line was Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa in second place, collecting 20 all-important points as he closes the championship gap to the absent Casey Stoner who is currently in third position overall.

Brno did bring another battle to the flag, but this time it was for third position as three riders, all using Bridgestone’s harder option slicks, fought for the final podium spot. San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Toni Elias led the pack for most of the race to clinch third and his best result of the season. The Spaniard finished just over half a second ahead of Honda stable-mate Andrea Dovizioso, who in turn was just 0.12 seconds clear of a resurgent Loris Capirossi of the Rizla Suzuki Team.

Hiroshi Yamada – Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager Motorcycle Sport Unit

“Again we saw some great battles today, particularly for the lead and also for third. The fight between Valentino and Jorge was very exciting to see as it was at such a high level and the pair both broke the previous circuit lap record many times in the process. There was also a good fight for third between Toni, Andrea and Loris. I must congratulate Toni and the San Carlo team for their best result of this season, and it is great to see Loris and the Suzuki Team fighting for a podium again.”

Tohru Ubukata – Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development

“I am pleased with the performance of our slick tyres this weekend because we have seen one new record set using each compound. Valentino set the pole position best on Bridgestone tyres using the softer compound rear, and today in the race Jorge set the lap record using the harder compound slicks. Valentino’s overall race time also shows the good consistency and durability of our harder tyres this weekend so I am happy. The times show that our selected tyre compounds worked well this weekend.”

Valentino Rossi – Fiat Yamaha Team – Race Winner

“Together with my team we changed something on the bike to provide me a better feeling with the front tyre, so I started a little bit blind. I have to use the fantastic lap of yesterday with the soft tyre and try to start in front. I saw the bike was like I wanted so I say “now I push to the maximum. Unfortunately for him Jorge made a mistake and from that moment it was a lot more relaxed. It is very good for us because 50 points of advantage is an important advantage.”