In JerezFiat Yamaha Team new-recruit Jorge Lorenzo proved his Qatar podium was no fluke by taking third in his home Grand Prix at Jerez today.
The youngster joined his team-mate Valentino Rossi, who finished second, on the podium and marked a great day for the team
in front of over 130,000 Spanish fans and King Juan Carlos of Spain.
Lorenzo started from pole for the second race running but was unable to keep pace with his Dani Pedrosa, who led over the line for the first time. Meanwhile Rossi had moved to within striking distance of his team-mate by the third lap, making his move on the next lap and passing the Mallorcan to take second.
Lorenzo rode strongly in third for the remainder of the race but was unable to get close enough to Rossi to mount a challenge, crossing the line 1.456 seconds adrift of the Italian. Rossi likewise was unable to make much of a dent in Pedrosa's lead and finished 2.883 seconds off the winner.
“Of course I'm a little bit disappointed today because we thought that we might be able to make more of a challenge, but I can't complain because it's only my second race and I've had two podiums and two pole positions, so it's still a great result !”, commented the Spaniard. “To race today in front of so many Spanish fans and also The King was something incredible and I have really enjoyed myself a lot here. Dani was a fair winner today, his pace was very strong and I couldn't stay with him, but I am learning all the time and I will be stronger again at the next race. It's a very long championship and this is an important result for us. Thanks to my team and to Yamaha and Michelin, everyone worked very hard and I think we've done a very good job so far.
To be second in the championship at this point is still far more than I expected and now I am just looking forward to the next race.”
“Today's result is a great one! This was just the second race of Jorge's MotoGP career and he got his second consecutive podium! He rode the race of an “old” MotoGP rider today, in a very clever way. He concentrated on taking home the best result he could, without making any mistakes or wasting the great pole position he started from”, reflected Team Manager Daniele Romagnoli. “ The Team did an excellent job and, together with Michelin, we were able to find a good package for this track. Now of course motivation is running high and we will use today's result and data in order to improve things further and to go to Estoril in the best shape possible.”
With two podiums under his belt Lorenzo holds onto second in the championship whilst Rossi moves into third and the Fiat Yamaha Team top the team table.
Fiat Yamaha
