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Lorenzo: Czech GP “One Of The Worst In My Career!”

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Jorge Lorenzo is hoping to quickly put today's Czech Grand Prix behind him after describing it as one of the worst races in his MotoGP career. The world champion chose a softer rear tyre compound than the rest of the field and paid the price, finishing down in fourth place. Matters were made even worse by the fact that title rival Casey Stoner scored maximum points, increasing his lead to 32.

The Yamaha man came perilously close to crashing on lap three when the front end of the YZR-M1 washed out and Lorenzo revealed that he was struggling with the problem for the rest of the race.

 “The front tyre we chose was not the best option today. We tried it in qualifying and yesterday morning and it gave me a really good feeling and very constant pace. Today with the different conditions and temperature it was not working. From the beginning of the second lap I was really close to losing my front in every corner so it was difficult to improve on fourth position. The Championship is now even more difficult for us but that doesn't mean it is finished. There are still a lot of points to be played for so we must focus on winning the most races we can. Now we must forget this race which is probably one of the worst this season and possibly in my MotoGP career, I am excited to try the 1000 bike and improvements to the current 800 engine tomorrow as well!”

Teammate Ben Spies had an agonising afternoon as he bravely carried on despite suffering from a trapped nerve in his neck. The American did manage to finish close behind Lorenzo in fifth but felt the effects afterwards.

“That was a hard race; I wanted to quit every lap past the ninth! I tried as hard as I could and didn't make too many mistakes. I just thought with Valentino coming behind me and being ahead in the Championship I've just got to keep on going until I fall of this thing. I didn't fall off and I finished so it was a good result. Now it's the complete opposite, it's my right arm that's completely dead because that's all that was working in the race. Again I've got to thank the team; the bike was really good and definitely a podium bike. I've also got to thank the Clinica guys; I've never been in there so much, every day! That was the hardest physical race I've ever done. We got it finished, put it behind us and we scored some points.”

Team Director Massimo Meregalli paid tribute to Spies for riding through such excruciating pain. Despite losing points to Stoner, he also refused to panic at the lead the Australian is starting to open up.

“I was surprised by Ben’s result, he was worried at the beginning of the race and especially after warm up he didn't think he could do more than 12 or 13 laps pushing. He did a great job; we knew it wouldn't be easy. He pushed hard and consolidated his position. Unfortunately Jorge couldn't do what we expected.  Anyway there are still some more races to come and we will be ready for the next one.”

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