After watching Michelin-shod rookie team-mate Jorge Lorenzo claim Yamaha's first MotoGP victory of the season at Estoril on Sunday, Valentino Rossi's side of the garage were talking in terms of a defensive race by the Italian - but making their victory intentions for China clear.
After qualifying on the front row for the first time as Bridgestone rider, Rossi had hoped to battle for his first victory with the Japanese rubber at Estoril - and led the grand prix from laps 2 to 12, when Lorenzo burst through with a surprise move into the ultra-tight chicane.
Pedrosa demoted Rossi to third position two laps later, by which time the five times MotoGP world champion was unable to stick with the two leading Michelin riders. Indeed, had Andrea Dovizioso and then Nicky Hayden not fallen from fourth, Rossi may not have reached the podium.
"My M1 worked well today; I got a good start and was able to stay at the front to begin with and have some fun. My Bridgestone tyres were working well but I was thinking about trying to conserve them as much as possible because I knew 28 laps was going to be hard," he said. "Unfortunately I couldn't stay with Lorenzo and Pedrosa in the later stages and I started to slide a little bit, but anyway to have two podiums in a row with Bridgestone is very important because we're still in the learning stages of our relationship."
"Valentino defended very well today despite difficult conditions for us and we took a good podium and some important points," declared team manager Davide Brivio.
Rossi's podium means he remains third in the championship, behind joint leaders Lorenzo and Pedrosa, but is now 14 points from the top - something he aims to change next time out in Shanghai.
"I think we've made another step forward this weekend and we have an important test [on Monday] - I hope in China we will be able to fight for the win!" said Rossi.
"We hope that in China we'll be in attacking form and able to get our first win with Bridgestone!" confirmed Brivio. "We will work on tyres and settings for China [on Monday] and then everyone will have a good rest before the next challenge."
crash.net
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