Rossi on the MotoGP winning track again MyZA

Valentino Rossi celebrates his victory with Marc Marquez, left, and Cal Crutchlow at the Dutch TT. Photo: News Letter

Factory Yamaha rider, Valentino Rossi, sealed his first premier class success in nearly three years at the Dutch TT at Assen on Saturday.

Rossi rode a faultless race at the iconic circuit in the Netherlands to claim an astounding 80th victory in the blue riband category, which puts him 12 wins ahead of fellow Italian motorcycling legend Giacomo Agostini, who achieved 68 Grand Prix wins in the elite class.

The 34-year-old switched back to Yamaha this season after a barren two-year spell at Ducati and finally gave his passionate fans the result they craved as he wound back the years to dominate the seventh round, taking the victory from Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez with British rider Cal Crutchlow third on the satellite Tech 3 Yamaha M1.

Rossi’s team-mate and defending MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo suffered a broken left collarbone following a crash during practice in the wet, but incredibly the Spaniard returned to Assen following surgery in Barcelona and battled to a stunning fifth place finish.

It was a heroic effort by Lorenzo, who finished behind championship leader Dani Pedrosa.

Yamaha star Rossi admitted afterwards that he was unsure if he would ever taste success at the highest level in MotoGP again, even though he vowed never to throw in the towel.

“I’m happy and I cannot believe it,” Rossi said. “It is a great feeling to be back in first position. It’s been a long time since Sepang 2010 [Rossi’s previous MotoGP victory.]

“I didn’t know if I could win again. It was a tough period but I never gave up.” – News Letter