Saturday, August 17, 2013
Lorenzo: Maybe we can fight for first…
Jorge Lorenzo splits the Hondas to qualify second for the Indianapolis Grand Prix and is feeling good about his chances for the race.
Factory Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo feels he has the pace to possibly challenge for victory in the Indianapolis MotoGP, despite qualifying half a second behind pole man Marc Marquez.
Still recovering from the collarbone injuries he sustained at Assen and the Sachsenring, Lorenzo has been keeping his expectations fairly modest around a circuit that has traditionally favoured the Hondas - but a stronger-than-expected turn in qualifying would see him qualify in second place.
Despite the gap to Marquez, Lorenzo was pleased with his performance and his not entirely ruling out a challenge for victory.
“I'm happy with the pace, it's not bad,” said the reigning double champion. “We still don't know how well our rivals are prepared for the race but I think I have a constant pace to finish the race with a good speed. The bike has improved by some small details every session so I'm happy with that also.
“I'm happy to be back on the first row and confident we can fight for the podium. You can see that Marc, Dani and Stefan are really strong, normally we are with them but it's clear that this track is not so suitable for our bike, but it's much better than it was in 2011. I am confident that we can fight to be not far from first position or maybe to fight for first.”
Lorenzo will start the race 26 points behind Marquez and ten points from the other Repsol Honda of Dani Pedrosa, who qualified in third.
Via Crash.net
Factory Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo feels he has the pace to possibly challenge for victory in the Indianapolis MotoGP, despite qualifying half a second behind pole man Marc Marquez.
Still recovering from the collarbone injuries he sustained at Assen and the Sachsenring, Lorenzo has been keeping his expectations fairly modest around a circuit that has traditionally favoured the Hondas - but a stronger-than-expected turn in qualifying would see him qualify in second place.
Despite the gap to Marquez, Lorenzo was pleased with his performance and his not entirely ruling out a challenge for victory.
“I'm happy with the pace, it's not bad,” said the reigning double champion. “We still don't know how well our rivals are prepared for the race but I think I have a constant pace to finish the race with a good speed. The bike has improved by some small details every session so I'm happy with that also.
“I'm happy to be back on the first row and confident we can fight for the podium. You can see that Marc, Dani and Stefan are really strong, normally we are with them but it's clear that this track is not so suitable for our bike, but it's much better than it was in 2011. I am confident that we can fight to be not far from first position or maybe to fight for first.”
Lorenzo will start the race 26 points behind Marquez and ten points from the other Repsol Honda of Dani Pedrosa, who qualified in third.
Via Crash.net
Qualifying practice Results
Friday, August 16, 2013
Lorenzo: The collarbone is feeling good…
Despite admitting to not quite being '100 per cent' fit as yet, Jorge Lorenzononetheless feels he is getting close to full strength as he led Yamaha's charge against Honda on the first day of free practice for the Indianapolis Grand Prix.
Via Crash.net
Despite admitting to not quite being '100 per cent' fit as yet, Jorge Lorenzononetheless feels he is getting close to full strength as he led Yamaha's charge against Honda on the first day of free practice for the Indianapolis Grand Prix.
The Spaniard's aspirations of retaining hisMotoGP title have been hampered by injuries sustained at Assen and then the Sachsenring, and while the summer break would prove a welcome chance for Lorenzo get back into shape, he concedes he is not quite back to peak fitness.
Despite this, Lorenzo insists his collarbone is feeling good after a day of action around the 'Brickyard', the two-time champion notching up the fourth fastest lap, just two tenths from pace setter and series leader Marc Marquez.
“The collarbone is feeling good, it's not 100 per cent yet but it's close. It doesn't give me too many problems to ride at a high level. We are still very far from the track record and the track is still quite slippery. Compared to last year I think we are going to have less problems to fight for the podium. I won here in 2009 but usually it's not so easy for me. Sometimes the other Yamaha riders are faster than me but so far it's a good start.
“This morning the track conditions were better than I expected and then improved further over the day, so this afternoon all riders improved their lap times. We still have some problems, especially in braking but I think our margin can be improved quite a bit.
“We didn't make so many laps in the afternoon; I wanted to make more but firstly the red flag cost us time and then at the end I found so many CRT bikes there it was hard to get clear laps.”
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