LORENZO FINISHES TENTH WITH GUTSY RIDE IN BRNO
Fiat Yamaha Team rookie Jorge Lorenzo finished a creditable
tenth in Brno today, making up seven places after starting
last on the grid. The Spaniard made the most of the tools
he had available to pass several riders, including two on
the last lap, and hangs onto his fourth place in the championship
as a result. His team-mate Valentino Rossi won his fifth race
of the season and was saved another tense battle with Casey
Stoner after the Australian crashed out of the lead on the
seventh lap.
Lorenzo was able to pass Colin Edwards early on and he then
gradually settled into a rhythm and passed both James Toseland
and Dani Pedrosa to take 12th. During the middle part of the
race his lap times gradually improved and brought him closer
to the next group and he was rewarded with an exciting final
lap, which saw him pass first Sylvain Guintoli and then John
Hopkins on the line to take tenth.
Six points for Lorenzo see him stay ten points ahead of Andrea
Dovizioso in fourth place in the championship, whilst Rossi
is now 50 points clear of Stoner. The Fiat Yamaha Team now
have two days of testing before they head to the next round
at Misano in Italy in two week’s time.
Jorge Lorenzo
Position: 10th Time: +39.573
“This race is a bit sad for me because we have the potential
to do a lot better. However considering what has happened
this weekend and, above all, the problems with the front tyre,
I think we have done almost as much as we could. At the start
I didn’t want to take too many risks and I could feel
that the front tyre was getting worse on each lap, but on
the other hand the rear tyre was getting better each lap!
I know that we have had had problems this weekend but I know
that Michelin are working very hard, so now we will try to
use the test to make some improvements. I want to say thank
you to all of my team for their hard work, congratulate Valentino
for his victory and finally also Toni Elias for his podium.”
Daniele Romagnoli
Team Manager
“Today we couldn’t have done any better than this,
but we can’t be satisfied to finish tenth. But overall
Jorge did a great job and a good race, and he was able to
find a good rhythm in the middle part of the race, continue
until to the end and pass many riders, plus he was able to
score some valuable points. Motivation in our team is still
high because we have many more races to do and tomorrow at
the test we will start again to work very hard with Michelin,
look at the problems we have had here and try to find a way
to improve things for the remaining races.”
Results
1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 43'28.841
2. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team + 15.004
3. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 21.689
4. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini + 25.859
5. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing + 29.465
6. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki + 30.608
7. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro + 36.453
8. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini + 36.750
9. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP + 38.822
10. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team + 39.573
11. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing + 39.610
12. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team + 40.892
13. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha + 1'11.490
14. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha + 1'21.133
15. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda + 1'37.038
16. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP + 1'38.407
NOT CLASSIFIED
Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 16 Lap
Championship Standings
1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 237
2. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 187
3. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 172
4. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 120
5. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP 110
6. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 102
7. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki 99
8. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda 84
9. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini 83
10. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 77
11. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 75
12. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team 66
13. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini 49
14. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team 42
15. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro 41
16. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 40
17. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing 37
18. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing 33
19. Ben Spies (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 10
20. Jamie Hacking (USA) Kawasaki Racing Team 5
21. Tadyuki Okada (JPN) Repsol Honda Team 2
Brno: Record Lap
L. Capirossi (Ducati) 2006, 1'58.157
Brno: Best Lap
V. Rossi (Yamaha) 2006, 1'56.191
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