gotorx7
04-05-2010, 09:35 PM
Lorenzo produces ride of his life in Spain
Jorge Lorenzo produced one of the rides of his life to take a superb win in Spain today, the grandeur of a full-to-bursting Jerez providing a fitting amphitheatre for his first MotoGP win on home soil. Valentino Rossi finished third, making it a sixteenth double podium for the Fiat Yamaha pair since 2008.
http://www.australiancardirectory.com.au/upl_images/A_MotoGP%20Rd2_1b.jpg
Lorenzo got a bad start and had dropped from second to fifth by the second lap, as he struggled to find a rhythm with a full fuel tank. On lap five he was able to pass Casey Stoner and then, five laps on, Nicky Hayden but he looked destined to stay in third as he languished 1.5 seconds adrift of Rossi, who was in turn the same distance from Pedrosa. With a third of the race to go however the Spaniard picked up pace, suddenly the fastest man on track as he stormed up on his team-mate. On lap 22 he despatched the Italian but with only five laps left and a two second gap a victory still looked unlikely. The tenacious youngster was not giving up however in pursuit of a sixth premier-class win and he rapidly gained on his fellow Spaniard to bring himself within striking distance on his penultimate lap. His first attempt to pass resulted in a dramatic moment as they both momentarily looked like running off track and in the end he had to leave it to the last lap to make the definitive move, passing Pedrosa on the brakes at the end of the back straight and crossing the line 0.543 seconds ahead. Lorenzo, who turns 23 on Tuesday, celebrated in hilarious style by leaping into the lake in the middle of the circuit, much to the rapture of the home fans who were already celebrating Spanish wins in the 125cc and Moto2 classes earlier in the day.
Rossi was happy to make the podium, having struggled all weekend to overcome his injured shoulder and set-up problems with his M1. The World Champion got a great start from the second row and was second behind Pedrosa for most of the race. He stayed in touch in the early stages but began to drop back as his bike started to slide, eventually giving best to his charging team-mate and settling for the final podium spot and a valuable 16 points, 0.4 seconds behind Pedrosa.
The Championship is now led by Lorenzo with 45 points, while Rossi is four points off him in second. The riders now have a three-week break before the French round at Le Mans on 23rd May.
Jorge Lorenzo: "It has always been one of my dreams to win a MotoGP race in Spain and this was like a movie, everything that could possibly happen did! It was a very hard race because I made such a bad start and then found it very difficult in the first laps - I gave myself a tough job to do. After that I started to feel better and rode like a demon to get to the front. Once I passed Valentino I knew that I couldn't take it easy, I had to try everything to win and it was all I could think about. I had a great fight with Dani and in one moment we nearly crashed so I had to try again, on the very last lap! I know it's better to win races calmly, from the front, but lately that hasn't been the way for us and I have had to fight on every lap. I saw the lake on Thursday and thought it would be funny to jump in and I think the fans liked it, but I didn't really think about how heavy I'd be with wet leathers and for a minute I thought I wasn't going to get out! This has been an amazing day, I can't believe I've achieved this dream of mine, in front of all the Spanish fans at this magical place."
Dani Pedrosa: “Well, this result is a little bit surprising for me and, even though I came so close to winning, I’m pleased to be on the podium and so close to the top step. I didn’t think I was going to be able to lead the race for this long and I was nervous at the start because I knew that to maintain a front-running rhythm was going to be very difficult for us. So I was pleased to be out in front of the race, but then I saw on the pit board that Lorenzo was closing at a pace that was half a second faster than me and Rossi and I thought, “Mmm, maybe this is going to be difficult!”. I tried to hold him off for as long as possible but in the end I couldn’t. Second place after leading for all but half a lap is disappointing obviously, but after the first race at Qatar this is a good result for us. I’d like to thank all the fans who came here and supported us today, and all the people around me in the Repsol Honda Team. We must keep working really hard – starting with the test tomorrow – so that we can improve for Le Mans.”
Valentino Rossi: "This just wasn't our race this year. We have struggled all weekend, first with my shoulder and then with the bike, and in the race today I couldn't do any more than third. I got a great start and was fast with the new tyre, I tried to go with Dani but then I started to slide a lot and I just had to play it safe. I made no mistakes and I'm happy about my race in the circumstances, these 16 points are very important. At the end I had a front-row seat to the Spanish party and I admit I was sorry not to be involved, Jorge did a great job today and I think it was very exciting for all the fans. I want to say thank you to Dr. Costa and all the staff at the Clinica Mobile, plus everyone back in Italy who has worked on my shoulder to allow me to be able to race this weekend. I will hopefully be back to full strength in Le Mans so I'm looking forward to that."
RACE RESULTS:
<TABLE style="WIDTH: 542px; HEIGHT: 434px" border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=542><TBODY><TR class=greyBkgnd><TD>Pos.</TD><TD>Rider</TD><TD>Manu.</TD><TD>Nat.</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: right">Total Time</TD></TR><TR class=yamahaRider><TD vAlign=top>1</TD><TD>Jorge Lorenzo</TD><TD>Yamaha</TD><TD>ESP</TD><TD align=right>45'17.538</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rowDivder vAlign=top>2</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Daniel Pedrosa</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Honda</TD><TD class=rowDivder>ESP</TD><TD class=rowDivder align=right>0'00.543</TD></TR><TR class=yamahaRider><TD vAlign=top>3</TD><TD>Valentino Rossi</TD><TD>Yamaha</TD><TD>ITA</TD><TD align=right>0'00.890</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rowDivder vAlign=top>4</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Nicky Hayden</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Ducati</TD><TD class=rowDivder>USA</TD><TD class=rowDivder align=right>0'09.015</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rowDivder vAlign=top>5</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Casey Stoner</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Ducati</TD><TD class=rowDivder>AUS</TD><TD class=rowDivder align=right>0'10.034</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rowDivder vAlign=top>6</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Andrea Dovizioso</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Honda</TD><TD class=rowDivder>ITA</TD><TD class=rowDivder align=right>0'23.144</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rowDivder vAlign=top>7</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Mika Kallio</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Ducati</TD><TD class=rowDivder>FIN</TD><TD class=rowDivder align=right>0'34.489</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rowDivder vAlign=top>8</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Marco Melandri</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Honda</TD><TD class=rowDivder>ITA</TD><TD class=rowDivder align=right>0'34.687</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rowDivder vAlign=top>9</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Randy De Puniet</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Honda</TD><TD class=rowDivder>FRA</TD><TD class=rowDivder align=right>0'36.160</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rowDivder vAlign=top>10</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Alvaro Bautista</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Suzuki</TD><TD class=rowDivder>ESP</TD><TD class=rowDivder align=right>0'36.791</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rowDivder vAlign=top>11</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Marco Simoncelli</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Honda</TD><TD class=rowDivder>ITA</TD><TD class=rowDivder align=right>0'37.155</TD></TR><TR class=yamahaRider><TD vAlign=top>12</TD><TD>Colin Edwards</TD><TD>Yamaha</TD><TD>USA</TD><TD align=right>0'38.371</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rowDivder vAlign=top>13</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Hector Barbera</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Ducati</TD><TD class=rowDivder>ESP</TD><TD class=rowDivder align=right>0'38.371</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rowDivder vAlign=top>14</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Hiroshi Aoyama</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Honda</TD><TD class=rowDivder>JPN</TD><TD class=rowDivder align=right>1'02.052</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rowDivder vAlign=top>15</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Aleix Espargaro</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Ducati</TD><TD class=rowDivder>ESP</TD><TD class=rowDivder align=right>-3 Laps</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Jorge Lorenzo produced one of the rides of his life to take a superb win in Spain today, the grandeur of a full-to-bursting Jerez providing a fitting amphitheatre for his first MotoGP win on home soil. Valentino Rossi finished third, making it a sixteenth double podium for the Fiat Yamaha pair since 2008.
http://www.australiancardirectory.com.au/upl_images/A_MotoGP%20Rd2_1b.jpg
Lorenzo got a bad start and had dropped from second to fifth by the second lap, as he struggled to find a rhythm with a full fuel tank. On lap five he was able to pass Casey Stoner and then, five laps on, Nicky Hayden but he looked destined to stay in third as he languished 1.5 seconds adrift of Rossi, who was in turn the same distance from Pedrosa. With a third of the race to go however the Spaniard picked up pace, suddenly the fastest man on track as he stormed up on his team-mate. On lap 22 he despatched the Italian but with only five laps left and a two second gap a victory still looked unlikely. The tenacious youngster was not giving up however in pursuit of a sixth premier-class win and he rapidly gained on his fellow Spaniard to bring himself within striking distance on his penultimate lap. His first attempt to pass resulted in a dramatic moment as they both momentarily looked like running off track and in the end he had to leave it to the last lap to make the definitive move, passing Pedrosa on the brakes at the end of the back straight and crossing the line 0.543 seconds ahead. Lorenzo, who turns 23 on Tuesday, celebrated in hilarious style by leaping into the lake in the middle of the circuit, much to the rapture of the home fans who were already celebrating Spanish wins in the 125cc and Moto2 classes earlier in the day.
Rossi was happy to make the podium, having struggled all weekend to overcome his injured shoulder and set-up problems with his M1. The World Champion got a great start from the second row and was second behind Pedrosa for most of the race. He stayed in touch in the early stages but began to drop back as his bike started to slide, eventually giving best to his charging team-mate and settling for the final podium spot and a valuable 16 points, 0.4 seconds behind Pedrosa.
The Championship is now led by Lorenzo with 45 points, while Rossi is four points off him in second. The riders now have a three-week break before the French round at Le Mans on 23rd May.
Jorge Lorenzo: "It has always been one of my dreams to win a MotoGP race in Spain and this was like a movie, everything that could possibly happen did! It was a very hard race because I made such a bad start and then found it very difficult in the first laps - I gave myself a tough job to do. After that I started to feel better and rode like a demon to get to the front. Once I passed Valentino I knew that I couldn't take it easy, I had to try everything to win and it was all I could think about. I had a great fight with Dani and in one moment we nearly crashed so I had to try again, on the very last lap! I know it's better to win races calmly, from the front, but lately that hasn't been the way for us and I have had to fight on every lap. I saw the lake on Thursday and thought it would be funny to jump in and I think the fans liked it, but I didn't really think about how heavy I'd be with wet leathers and for a minute I thought I wasn't going to get out! This has been an amazing day, I can't believe I've achieved this dream of mine, in front of all the Spanish fans at this magical place."
Dani Pedrosa: “Well, this result is a little bit surprising for me and, even though I came so close to winning, I’m pleased to be on the podium and so close to the top step. I didn’t think I was going to be able to lead the race for this long and I was nervous at the start because I knew that to maintain a front-running rhythm was going to be very difficult for us. So I was pleased to be out in front of the race, but then I saw on the pit board that Lorenzo was closing at a pace that was half a second faster than me and Rossi and I thought, “Mmm, maybe this is going to be difficult!”. I tried to hold him off for as long as possible but in the end I couldn’t. Second place after leading for all but half a lap is disappointing obviously, but after the first race at Qatar this is a good result for us. I’d like to thank all the fans who came here and supported us today, and all the people around me in the Repsol Honda Team. We must keep working really hard – starting with the test tomorrow – so that we can improve for Le Mans.”
Valentino Rossi: "This just wasn't our race this year. We have struggled all weekend, first with my shoulder and then with the bike, and in the race today I couldn't do any more than third. I got a great start and was fast with the new tyre, I tried to go with Dani but then I started to slide a lot and I just had to play it safe. I made no mistakes and I'm happy about my race in the circumstances, these 16 points are very important. At the end I had a front-row seat to the Spanish party and I admit I was sorry not to be involved, Jorge did a great job today and I think it was very exciting for all the fans. I want to say thank you to Dr. Costa and all the staff at the Clinica Mobile, plus everyone back in Italy who has worked on my shoulder to allow me to be able to race this weekend. I will hopefully be back to full strength in Le Mans so I'm looking forward to that."
RACE RESULTS:
<TABLE style="WIDTH: 542px; HEIGHT: 434px" border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=542><TBODY><TR class=greyBkgnd><TD>Pos.</TD><TD>Rider</TD><TD>Manu.</TD><TD>Nat.</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: right">Total Time</TD></TR><TR class=yamahaRider><TD vAlign=top>1</TD><TD>Jorge Lorenzo</TD><TD>Yamaha</TD><TD>ESP</TD><TD align=right>45'17.538</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rowDivder vAlign=top>2</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Daniel Pedrosa</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Honda</TD><TD class=rowDivder>ESP</TD><TD class=rowDivder align=right>0'00.543</TD></TR><TR class=yamahaRider><TD vAlign=top>3</TD><TD>Valentino Rossi</TD><TD>Yamaha</TD><TD>ITA</TD><TD align=right>0'00.890</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rowDivder vAlign=top>4</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Nicky Hayden</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Ducati</TD><TD class=rowDivder>USA</TD><TD class=rowDivder align=right>0'09.015</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rowDivder vAlign=top>5</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Casey Stoner</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Ducati</TD><TD class=rowDivder>AUS</TD><TD class=rowDivder align=right>0'10.034</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rowDivder vAlign=top>6</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Andrea Dovizioso</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Honda</TD><TD class=rowDivder>ITA</TD><TD class=rowDivder align=right>0'23.144</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rowDivder vAlign=top>7</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Mika Kallio</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Ducati</TD><TD class=rowDivder>FIN</TD><TD class=rowDivder align=right>0'34.489</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rowDivder vAlign=top>8</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Marco Melandri</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Honda</TD><TD class=rowDivder>ITA</TD><TD class=rowDivder align=right>0'34.687</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rowDivder vAlign=top>9</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Randy De Puniet</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Honda</TD><TD class=rowDivder>FRA</TD><TD class=rowDivder align=right>0'36.160</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rowDivder vAlign=top>10</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Alvaro Bautista</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Suzuki</TD><TD class=rowDivder>ESP</TD><TD class=rowDivder align=right>0'36.791</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rowDivder vAlign=top>11</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Marco Simoncelli</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Honda</TD><TD class=rowDivder>ITA</TD><TD class=rowDivder align=right>0'37.155</TD></TR><TR class=yamahaRider><TD vAlign=top>12</TD><TD>Colin Edwards</TD><TD>Yamaha</TD><TD>USA</TD><TD align=right>0'38.371</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rowDivder vAlign=top>13</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Hector Barbera</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Ducati</TD><TD class=rowDivder>ESP</TD><TD class=rowDivder align=right>0'38.371</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rowDivder vAlign=top>14</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Hiroshi Aoyama</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Honda</TD><TD class=rowDivder>JPN</TD><TD class=rowDivder align=right>1'02.052</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rowDivder vAlign=top>15</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Aleix Espargaro</TD><TD class=rowDivder>Ducati</TD><TD class=rowDivder>ESP</TD><TD class=rowDivder align=right>-3 Laps</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>