MOVISTAR YAMAHA CROSSES ATLANTIC OCEAN FOR THE GRAND PRIX OF ARGENTINA

After Jorge Lorenzo‘s dominant victory at the opening round almost a fortnight ago, he and Movistar Yamaha MotoGP teammate Valentino Rossi gear up for the second Grand Prix of the season in Argentina this weekend.

Termas de Rio Hondo (Argentina), 30th March 2016

With the 2016 season in full swing, MotoGP fans can hardly wait for Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi to return to action at the Termas de Río Hondo Circuit. Lorenzo underlined why he was crowned 2015 MotoGP World Champion when he rode a flawless race in Qatar last week. He aims to continue his form at the Gran Premio de la República Argentina. Though he‘s admittedly struggled there in the past he still took home solid points, securing fifth position in 2015 and third place in 2014. This year the Majorcan will settle for nothing less than a duplication of his sensational opening of the season and will again be giving his all to fight for a place on the podium. Teammate Rossi is also eager to challenge amongst the front-runners again this weekend. At the first round he rode a solid race and almost landed his first top three finish of the season. The nine-time World Champion can hardly wait to hit the track again, where thousands of fans will be cheering him on this weekend in the fight for a podium place. Last year he came out victorious in a brilliant race in Argentina, after he secured fourth in 2014, and he is up for the challenge again. The 4.8km long Termas de Río Hondo Circuit was officially added to the MotoGP calendar in 2014, two years after it was remodeled. The re-design aimed to turn the track into Latin America‘s most modern and safest circuit, providing fans with even more exciting racing action. With a fun layout that includes a mixture of fast corners (five left and nine right) and a 1076m in length longest straight, this year‘s Gran Premio de la República Argentina is likely to be another showstopper.

MASSIMO MEREGALLI
TEAM DIRECTOR 

After a good opening race in Qatar we‘re on our way to Argentina. Termas de Río Hondo Circuit is a good circuit for us that suits our YZR-M1 well. Last year Valentino secured a brilliant victory in a hard battle that race fans are still talking about to this day. Last year Jorge arrived here still recovering from a cold. This year our riders are both in top form so we are expecting another close fight this weekend. We have already gained more knowledge on how well Michelin‘s tyre life lasts over long distance from the first race. It will be interesting to see how the tyres will perform at this circuit where we haven‘t done any testing yet. One thing is certain, after last week‘s victory we are all incredibly motivated and we are looking forward to working towards another strong result this weekend.

 JORGE LORENZO
MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP RIDER

I look forward to racing in Argentina! After the victory in Qatar and the good feelings on track, I now want to race at a circuit where in the past we struggled a bit. On the other hand, we need to keep our feet on the ground. We started the championship in a perfect manner but we still need to understand what the behaviour of the bike is like for different track layouts. I want to check if the bike with these electronics and tyres works well everywhere. Anyway to kick off the season like we did in Qatar is a good way to get confidence and work even harder to try to fight again for the victory here. The track is really nice and Argentina as well so I feel happy to go there.

 VALENTINO ROSSI
MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP RIDER

I am very happy to go to Argentina. In this place I have many fans and it's always nice to feel the affection and passion of these people. I have great memories here. Last year it was a great race. It will be difficult to repeat the same result but we will try. In Qatar I was not able to go on the podium but it was a good race anyway. We worked well throughout the weekend. In Argentina we will have to do the same thing, but we'll have to do better in the race, and try to get on the podium. I really like the Termas track and we will try to do our best!