Jorge Lorenzo may have lost the battle to Casey Stoner today at Estoril, but the Yamaha rider is more than satisfied with his second place podium considering it was a ‘nightmare’ weekend until his crew managed to solve the set-up problems he was having and a burnt clutch in the first laps didn’t help.
Despite everything he ‘almost’ caught the Repsol Honda rider who proved to be be too strong as his energy waned and settled for some precious points and is just one point behind Stoner in the standings.
“I’m happy with this second position because I was expecting to fight for third or fourth and not the victory,” said Lorenzo.
“The bike improved a lot from the practices so it was possible.
I had two problems, at the start I used a lot of clutch and burnt it so for two or three laps it was burning and I lost a lot of distance from Casey.
Also at the end Casey was very strong.
After this everything was working well and I made a fastest lap, which is not very common for me.
We are just one point behind Casey, hopefully we can improve something on the bike tomorrow and be in front again.
”If team mate Lorenzo is happy, Ben Spies can only be satisfied that MotoGP no longer be racing at Estoril, a track that he doesn’t like as he as never finished a race at this particular Portughuese circuit.
After finishing 11th in the last two races, the American says an 8th place after some major mistakes in the race is a ‘confidence builder.
’ Spies definitely needs to get his mojo back as soon as possible, because Yamaha isn’t going wait very much longer before starting negotiations with other riders for the 2013 season and everyone wants to re-see Elbowz back in the thick of things.
“Very mixed emotions today, this is actually the first time in three years that I’ve finished a race here.
As I told the team, I made four or five big mistakes during the race, they cost me time and places.
It was a rough race but I’m continuing to build my confidence, I don’t enjoy Estoril so I’m happy to have finished,” said Ben Spies.