It was a double points finish for PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team’s MotoGP riders today in Portugal, with Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso crossing the line 13th and 14th respectively in what became a shortened Grande Prémio do Algarve.
A good start for Rossi saw him maintain his 16th place off the line and into the opening corners of the race. The Italian gained a spot one lap later, but found himself back in 16th shortly after. Battling hard to close the gap to the riders ahead, Valentino enjoyed a brief battle with former team-mate Franco Morbidelli on his way to making it inside of the points positions on lap 21. Sitting in 13th place when the red flags came out because of a double crash with two laps to go, Rossi earned himself three points in his penultimate MotoGP race.
Team-mate Dovizioso also had a strong start to the race, claiming one place off the line to take the first corner in 20th. Gaining another place in the early stages, the Italian had his work cut out to reduce the deficit to the main field. Able to find more pace in the final stages of the race, ‘Dovi’ moved into 16th with five laps to go. Making further progress to find himself one place behind team-mate Rossi in 14th when the race was brought to it’s early end, Andrea made it a double-points finish for the team.
Rossi and Dovizioso will now travel across the border to Spain for the final round of the season: the Gran Premio de la Comunitat Valenciana, which will also be Rossi’s final MotoGP race of his career and last race for PETRONAS Yamaha SRT.
