Rossi: Good race, better than Jerez podium

Valentino Rossi couldn't repeat his Jerez podium, but finishing just 1.1s from the Brno rostrum after starting in tenth meant he considered Sunday's fifth position to be a better overall performance.

The Monster Yamaha rider progressed steadily forwards, finishing in the midst of a four-strong pack headed by Johann Zarco, who completed the podium.

Rossi was 2.3s behind the top M1 of Franco Morbidelli - who was runner-up to KTM's Brad Binder - but comfortably ahead of Petronas Yamaha title leader Fabio Quartararo (7th) and his own factory team-mate Maverick Vinales (14th).

"It was a good race today. The second race in Jerez was better because we got a podium, but in general my performance here was better, because I had to start from the fourth row," said Rossi, who continued working with the new bike set-up that worked so well in Andalucia.

"The races have become very complicated now in MotoGP, but I felt good on the bike, and I had a good performance at this race track. I was able to be strong from the beginning to the end and also in the last part of the race I was good.

"It‘s a shame that yesterday we made some mistakes in qualifying because if I could have started one row to the front maybe I could have fought for the podium.

"But anyway, this remains a good performance and I enjoyed the race."

Team director Massimo Meregalli added: "Valentino did a good job today. Starting from 10th on the grid in the midst of the busy pack is always a challenge.

"He did well to recover quickly and steadily move up the order, all the while making sure he had enough tyre left at the end of the race to defend his fifth position.

"Our only regret is that if he had started at least one row ahead, he would have surely fought for the podium."

Rossi is now seventh in the world championship, 32 points behind Quartararo heading into the two Red Bull Ring rounds.