Maverick Viñales ended up having a tougher weekend than expected ahead of lights out, with the limited track time after bad weather on Friday giving the field less time to work on tyre choice.

Going with the hard tyre and finding the start of the race more difficult, the 2013 Moto3 World Champion found it did get better and managed to fight to fourth – but is looking for more in Japan after Championship leader Marc Marquez won at Aragon and increased his lead.

"The hard tyre was working really badly for us, especially on the first laps, but then it was working quite well at the end." commented the Spaniard

"Not so much in terms of grip, but it was improving lap by lap, but anyway it wasn‘t enough. Folger used the medium tyre and said he had no grip, so it was really difficult to understand which tyre we could use."

"For other races it was quite clear, because we were able to do many laps on the tyres so we knew which way to go, but here it was very difficult."

"I tried to use the same tyre as the opponents. Normally Valentino has a good feeling with the tyres and pushes on the hard option." He added

"For the next races we will have to work even harder on the Friday. It‘s important to keep pushing and working and keep our motivation high."

"We have to work even harder, though it‘s difficult, and we‘ll go to Japan to improve and we‘ll try to be stronger." Concluded Vinales

Knowing he would suffer but saying he’d try, an injured Valentino Rossi had already stunned on Saturday at MotorLand to get on the front row – and then came home in the top five on race day.

Not only that, the Italian was able to close on the lead and battle both Repsol Honda riders Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa, as well as teammate Maverick Viñales – with that getting pretty close in the latter stages.

Over the line, the nine-time World Champion was only half a second off his teammate, 24 days after breaking his tibia and fibula.

"I’m quite proud, very happy and satisfied because until a week ago I didn’t know if I was going to be able to race." Said the Italian "It was a great weekend and I improved day by day, and started from the front row."

"We knew it was going to be difficult, and I didn’t manage to have a great race because I was able to fight for first but then couldn’t keep it up."

"I knew I had to suffer in the second half of the race. I had some pain and we also suffered from the degradation of the tyre. The work continues after this race. At the end, over the final laps I was a bit tired and my leg was causing some pain." Added Rossi

"I tried to avoid throwing in the towel and tried to finish the race in the top five. Now the calendar works out well for me, I have two full weeks to train and improve my leg‘s condition."

"After this we have Motegi, which is going to be very important, but we also have three races in a row. I hope to arrive in Motegi if not at 100%, then fit enough."

Jorge Lorenzo took the lead off the line on home turf in the Aragon GP, making a gap and able to pull away in the initial stages before being reeled in.

But it was more than half the race that Lorenzo kept the lead, and he put up a good fight against Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) to remain there, unfortunately struggling in the latter laps with the soft rear tyre.

Caught and passed by Dani Pedrosa as the flag approached, Lorenzo was nevertheless close to the victory and closer to the front once again – happy with the race and feeling that Motegi should see an even bigger improvement.

"I prefer this podium to Jerez, because we are getting closer to the victory – but then it’s a pity to lead for so long and be so close to the win! But we’re progressing and that’s the important thing, especially from my side." Commented the Majorcan

"The team is giving me little details that make my life easier and we’re progressing quickly. Aragon wasn’t the best for our bike, but Motegi will be. There we can try again to fight for the victory."

"This time the pity was that we couldn’t choose the medium or hard tyre because we couldn’t generate the same grip." He added

"We knew that in the last seven or ten laps we would struggle and we did, it was difficult to stay in the 49s and stay on the pace on those guys."

"I was controlling the throttle and saving the tyre. I tried my best to keep Dani close, but it was a good podium and the victory is very close!" Concluded the Ducati rider