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Lorenzo Delivers a Master Class in Wet Riding to Claim Victory in Spain

Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jorge Lorenzo used his M1 to deliver a master class in wet riding today, delivering a flawless performance to take victory in front of his home crowd at Jerez.

The second race of the 2011 MotoGP Championship was played out on treacherous track conditions that claimed a number of victims over the 27 laps.
Slipping comfortably into second in the first lap Lorenzo stayed in contention in the top three for several laps, keeping calm and graduating to first position as rivals Stoner, Rossi and Simoncelli all crashed out of contention. A steady rhythm and inch perfect lines finally saw the reigning World Champion take the chequered flag, his first ever professional race career win in the wet.

Team mate Ben Spies was denied his first MotoGP podium as a factory rider with just three laps remaining of the race. Having initially dropped to sixth from the start grid Spies’ riding style was on a par with Lorenzo, laying down smooth consistent laps on a track that was wet in some places and drying in others. Having gained half a second a lap on second place man Pedrosa he caught and passed him, raising the possibility of a Yamaha one two on the podium. Disaster then struck on turn five as slippery conditions and worn race tyres brought the Texan’s race to a premature end, losing the front and sliding off the track.

Lorenzo’s victory propels him to the top of the MotoGP Championship standings with a tally of 45 points, nine points clear of Pedrosa in second. Spies heads to the next round in Estoril in four weeks time having dropped to 12th in the standings with ten points and looking to make up for today’s disappointment.



Jorge Lorenzo, 1st position, - "It has been one of my most patience races. It’s a great victory, which we needed and I feel so good. This is also the first time I have won in wet conditions, the first time ever! Now we are working to improve our bike, taking as much points as possible on the way. The King of Spain said to me that he would bring me good luck after our meeting last February in Madrid, he was right! With the competition so high this year I never imagined I would be leader after two races. I am so happy to have won this weekend, especially as my friends from Yamaha Indonesia came all the way here to support us; ‘Semakin di Depan’ means ‘One Step Ahead’ which was true today!"

Dani Pedrosa, 2nd position, - "It's been a very difficult race. At the start, many riders overtook me and I thought "that's it". Anyway, I knew there were 27 laps and the situation was difficult for the tyres. I was a little nervous after my bad start, but when I realised that in the first lap I was faster than in the warm up, I calmed down and started to improve. I took a good pace and had to ride at maximum concentration in order not to not make any mistakes, it was very easy to crash. Some riders started falling down and it was a matter of resisting there. I tried to catch Lorenzo when I saw that his gap was about a second, but at 10 laps to go the tyres were almost finished; I couldn't even open the throttle on the straight because the track was very slippery. When Spies crashed, my gap with Nicky was big enough to keep the second place and I crossed the finish line very very happy. It's been a tough weekend for the arm injury, today I also had numbness and lack of strength, but to ride in wet has helped me because it's not as aggressive as in dry conditions. To leave Jerez with a second place finish, after the third place in Qatar, is amazing. We are 9 points behind the Championship leader and it's a good gap to resume the Championship again in Estoril. On Friday we considered whether it was worth racing here or better to pull out thinking about the operation. So this second place is amazing. We've been doing great, but now comes the hard time, the surgery. Nobody likes to undergo surgery, but this time I almost wish for it because I want to end the pain and problems and start competing fully fit."

Nicky Hayden, 3d position, - “That wasn’t necessarily a pretty win because my last laps were so slow when the tires were worn, but we’re on the podium, and I’m pretty happy about it! In the beginning, our bike was really good because I had a lot of traction. After a while, it was all about focus, and there was no room for error. The track was changing every corner, because there was rain in some parts and no rain in other parts. Also, the tyres and the lines kept changing. It certainly hasn’t been an easy start to the season, so we’ll take success any way we can get it. Big thanks to the team. Hopefully we can try to build on this, and it will be the little shot in the arm to help get us going. I know Ducati’s not sleeping. They’ve got some work to do, but I think our bike is better than we’ve been showing. We’ve just been missing a little bit, but I’m confident we can still recover and have a good season.”

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