Jorge Lorenzo finished
third at Indianapolis yesterday and Fiat Yamaha
team-mate Valentino Rossi fourth in a punishingly hot
race won by Dani Pedrosa. Lorenzo dropped three places
on his grid position at the start and finished the first
lap in fifth with his team-mate close behind. On lap
three of 28 the championship leader made it past home
favourite Nicky Hayden and he set off in pursuit of
Andrea Dovizioso, arriving within striking distance by
the eighth lap. The Italian did not make it easy for
Lorenzo however and it took the Mallorcan several more
laps to pass him, which he did on the brakes into turn
one on lap 12. By that time Spies was too far ahead for
Lorenzo to make much headway on second place so he
settled for third and 16 points to add to his already
hefty season tally.
Rossi meanwhile had jumped from seventh to fifth at the
start and looked more comfortable on the bike than he
had all weekend, during which he had struggled for grip
and rhythm. On the fourth lap he overtook Nicky Hayden
and settled in fifth, a few tenths off the Lorenzo-Dovizioso
battle. Once Lorenzo was past Dovizioso, the World
Champion too began to close down his compatriot and with
eight laps remaining he passed him for fourth place. By
then however his lack of fitness following his injury
had caught up with him in the searing heat and he was
unable to push any more, coming home some six seconds
behind his team-mate.
Lorenzo continues to sit comfortably at the top of the
standings, with a 68-point lead over Pedrosa. Rossi
remains fifth but has moved to within five points of
Casey Stoner and fourth. The MotoGP paddock now has just
a few days rest before it reconvenes at Misano in Italy
for round 12 of the World Championship.
Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 3rd Time: +6.812
"Of course I shouldn't be disappointed with third place
but at the same time I'm not happy with my race today, I
didn't ride as well as I could have and I didn't get a
good start. The conditions were incredibly hard and I
simply didn't have the physical strength to push as hard
or do the same times I did in practice; it was like a
race in Malaysia! The track was so slippery and it was
very difficult to use the tyres as you wanted to, I
think honestly I'm quite lucky to have finished third
today. The good thing is we took some points and now I
have to concentrate on recovering before Misano because
we don't have much time."
Valentino Rossi
- Position: 4th Time: +12.633
"This was a good race for us after the weekend. Fourth
is quite good in the circumstances but the important
thing is that my rhythm in the race was strong and I
felt much happier on the bike. I did some good laps and
I wasn't too far from the other Yamahas, but
unfortunately I paid a lot for my lack of fitness in
this heat and in the end I had to stop pushing because I
didn't have any strength left in my body. I'm happy
though because we came back to a good setting and with
me riding well, and if you consider I had three small
crashes in the weekend, fourth isn't so bad. Now we will
look forward to Misano, my home race!"
Wilco Zeelenberg - Team Manager
"These were terribly hard conditions for the riders and
considering this we have to be very happy with third. It
was so hot and so easy to make a mistake so before the
race we told Jorge to just try to bring it home on two
wheels! Unfortunately he had a bad start which didn't
help because he then had a hard task to get past
Dovizioso, but considering the conditions and the
championship we're just as happy with this as with one
of our seven wins."
Davide Brivio - Team Manager
"This was a really positive race for us and Valentino
showed us that he could keep the pace of the front
runners. Unfortunately he's still not in peak condition
after his accident and with the heat he wasn't strong
enough to keep the same pace for the whole race, but he
fought at the top end, stayed close and showed us that
he's okay. It gives us confidence for our overall set-up
and our package for the next races. We came out well
from a difficult weekend so well done to everyone."
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