 |
|
Jorge Lorenzo put in another textbook
performance at Assen yesterday, leaving his
rivals trailing as he led from the front to
win the 80th Dutch TT and take his fourth
MotoGP victory of the season. |
|
|
|
Jorge Lorenzo put in
another textbook performance at Assen yesterday, leaving
his rivals trailing as he led from the front to win the
80th Dutch TT and take his fourth MotoGP victory of the
season. In doing so he becomes only the seventh rider in
history to have won in three or more classes at the
historic racetrack, with 125cc, 250cc and MotoGP wins to
his name. Meanwhile Tech 3 Yamaha rider Ben Spies
ensured that there were still two Yamahas in the top
four, despite the absence of Valentino Rossi, with
another brilliant performance to back up his maiden
podium last week.
Mallorcan Lorenzo had looked the man to beat all weekend
after topping both practice and qualifying and he got a
great start from pole position and quickly pulled out a
second's gap, but by lap five Dani Pedrosa and Casey
Stoner were looming large behind him and for a few laps
it looked as if a tense three-way battle was in the
offing. However Lorenzo's choice of the harder
Bridgestone tyre soon began to pay off and, with a
lighter fuel load by mid-race distance, he was able to
step things up a notch and gave himself an unassailable
lead, crossing the line 2.935 seconds ahead of Pedrosa,
with Stoner third and Spies fourth.
The Fiat Yamaha man's second win on the bounce sees him
extend his championship lead to an impressive 47 points
from Pedrosa, while Rossi remains fourth in the
standings. The next round comes in just a week's time at
Barcelona in Spain, when Wataru Yoshikawa will join the
Fiat Yamaha Team to fill in until Rossi is back on board
his M1.
Jorge Lorenzo -
1st, Time: 41'18.629
"This race was a bit more difficult than Silverstone
because Dani was so fast with the softer tyre early on
in the race and I had to really keep my concentration to
stay in front of him at that point. I was confident that
my harder Bridgestone tyre would help me later on and
this was the case, so we made the right choice. It
wasn't easy though and at the end I was sliding quite a
lot, in fact I made a mistake at the chicane and nearly
crashed so I was quite glad to finish! I am really happy
that I have won here in all three classes because it's
such a historic place and the football I had in Parc
Ferme was to celebrate this ‘hat-trick.' Thanks to all
my Yamaha guys and also to Bridgestone for this win, we
have a big lead in the championship so we can afford to
stay calm and relaxed. Now we go to my home in Barcelona
and I am excited about another chance to race in front
of the Spanish fans."
Wilco Zeelenberg - Team Manager Jorge Lorenzo
"We knew before the start that Pedrosa and Stoner had
chosen the softer tyre so we expected them to be fast at
the beginning and in fact we were quite pleasantly
surprised that Jorge was able to make a gap so early on.
Then they came back to him but he is mentally very
strong at the moment and he just kept his head and did
very well to stay in front, because they were pushing
him hard for a while. Once the laps went on and our fuel
load was reduced, Jorge was able to use the harder tyre
to his advantage and he succeeded brilliantly, we had no
doubts about him. Well done to him and to all the team
for this second win in a row on this special TT
Anniversary."
|
|
|
