British Grand Prix - Lorenzo
Ambient temperature: 20 degrees
Track temperature: 26 degrees
Humidity: 22%
 LORENZO
STORMS TO SIXTH WITH SUPERB DONINGTON RIDE
Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo wrote another impressive
chapter in his rollercoaster rookie story today with an outstanding
ride to sixth from 17th on the grid in the British Grand Prix.
After suffering a string of crashes and injuries over the
last seven weeks and missing the last round in Catalunya,
his aim today was simply to come home in one piece but the
determined 21-year-old did considerably better, passing a
host of riders to make up 11 places from his grid position.
His team-mate Valentino Rossi meanwhile extended his championship
lead by finishing as runner-up to Casey Stoner.
In dry but windy conditions, Lorenzo lived up to his nickname
‘Por Fuera’ at turn one by overtaking around the
outside of several riders and coming out of the first corner
melee in 13th position. He continued with more of the same
throughout the lap and crossed the line for the first time
in tenth. As his confidence grew he found the rhythm he had
been lacking during the rest of the weekend and passed Anthony
West to take ninth on lap 13. A consistent pace throughout
the middle part of the race, matching that of the leading
riders, brought him to Shinya Nakano on lap 20 and, once past
him he succeeded in closing a three second gap to Chris Vermeulen
and Nicky Hayden in just four laps. He dispensed with these
two in turn and then set off after Andrea Dovozioso, however
with only five laps remaining time ran out for the Mallorcan
and he crossed the line just under a second adrift of the
Italian, despite setting a personal best time on the final
lap of the race.
Lorenzo now sits 13 points adrift of Stoner in fourth place,
whilst Rossi extends his lead over Dani Pedrosa to 11 points
as they approach the half way point in the championship, which
comes at Assen in just six days time.
Jorge Lorenzo
Position: 6th Time: +15.690
“I’m very happy with this result, because this
was a very hard weekend for me and for my crew. I don’t
want to think about the past, or think about what might have
been if I’d started in the front rows, I only want to
think about the present and my ride today. The number one
aim was to finish the race without crashing or hurting myself,
because at the end of the day your health is the most important
thing! After the start however I started to feel more and
more confident and found I was able to ride better and better,
then I realised that I actually had the chance to do a very
good race. I had fast pace throughout and my bike and my Michelin
tyres worked very well, so thank you to all my team. Sometimes
lately it has been hard to stay optimistic, motivated and
happy, even though I have always tried to go out smiling and
with a good attitude, but this race today was great and I
am very happy tonight.”
Daniele Romagnoli
Team Manager
“We have achieved the goal for this race; it was very
important that Jorge found a good feeling with the bike and
started to enjoy riding his M1 again and today this happened.
He was able to ride a beautiful race and come back from a
difficult grid position to take a brilliant sixth. Today he
impressed us once again and it was also a great feeling for
everyone to see him making eleven overtakes! The team did
a fantastic job because they were able to put him in a position
to be this fast. We are very confident now that in Assen Jorge
will be back to his best.”
Masahiko Nakajima
Team Director
“We are all very happy with Jorge’s race today
because he came through to a good finishing position from
the back of the grid. Unfortunately starting from 17th meant
it was very difficult to come all the way to the front but
he did a fantastic job in the circumstances. We’re pleased
because we have seen once again the impressive riding that
he showed us before his accident. Now we will continue to
try to improve his bike set-up even more, with the aim of
seeing him back on the podium as soon as possible.”
Results
1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 44'44.982
2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team + 5.789
3. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda + 8.347
4. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha + 12.678
5. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP + 14.801
6. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team + 15.690
7. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda + 18.196
8. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki + 21.666
9. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini + 29.354
10. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing + 41.030
11. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team + 44.426
12. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP + 46.199
13. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team + 48.731
14. Ben Spies (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 49.591
15. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini + 1'22.186
16. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro + 1'30.021
17. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 1 Lap
NOT CLASSIFIED
John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing 14 Lap
Championship Standings
1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 162
2. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 151
3. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 117
4. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 104
5. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 82
6. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP 68
7. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda 57
8. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 53
9. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 51
10. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini 49
11. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki 48
12. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing 32
13. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro 29
14. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team 29
15. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini 25
16. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 22
17. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team 18
18. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing 16
19. Tadyuki Okada (JPN) Repsol Honda Team 2
20. Ben Spies (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2
Donington Park: Record Lap
D. Pedrosa (Honda) 2006, 1'28.714
Donington Park: Best Lap
D. Pedrosa (Honda) 2006, 1'27.676
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