Jorge Lorenzo was happy to settle for second in Sunday's United States Grand Prix after conceding Casey Stoner was too strong in the race. The Yamaha rider led until the final ten laps when Stoner upped the pace and Lorenzo later admitted his rival's decision to start on the softer tyre may have made the difference.
“I tried my best the beginning to open a gap and I managed it but then in the corkscrew I almost crashed. For Casey maybe that was a motivation and he caught me in one lap. After that I couldn't keep the pace I had in the beginning, maybe the soft tyre was the best option for this race. Without a doubt Casey was riding in an excellent form today and it wasn't possible to beat him.”
Teammate Ben Spies was running a strong fourth before his weekend of misfortune came to a disastrous end. The American crashed coming down the Corkscrew and he later revealed that his bike was responsible for the spill.
“We had a technical failure in the swingarm. I was feeling really good, I didn't have the grip that I had in the earlier sessions with the harder tyre but in the last ten laps I was starting to pull away and I had a little left up my sleeve. We started to stretch out a lead over Dovi then all of a sudden at the bottom of the corkscrew the bike went out from underneath me. I had no control, it didn't slide or anything just completely went. At first I thought I'd hit a bump but there isn't one there. It's nobody's fault but it's more bad luck.”
