The victory was made possible by the choice of the right tires

Valentino Rossi said that the key to his victory on Phillip Island was that he chose an extra soft front tire.

The Yamaha racer made his way to the front in the first laps of the race after starting it only from eighth place, and then got involved in a duel for second place with teammate Jorge Lorenzo. When he won this battle, Marc Marquez, who used an asymmetrical front tire, gave him a lead in the race and a free path to victory.

With his second win of the year, Rossi took the initiative in the fight for second place in this year’s championship, with Lorenzo in third place eight points behind him.

“The work we did with the team over the weekend turned out to be very important. We made the right decision when choosing tires.

Marquez wasn’t too far ahead, but he had a two-second lead, so I focused on my ride and Jorge’s ride. He was very fast all weekend, but for second place in the championship it was very important that I finish the race before him.

When I was ahead of Lorenzo and Marquez fell, I realized that a smile was winning me, ”added the Italian, who won Phillip Island for the first time since 2005 and was already 82nd in the Royal MotoGP class.