Jorge Lorenzo felt that he could have challenged Casey Stoner for victory in Sunday's rain-affected British Grand Prix had he not crashed out on lap eight.
The World Champion was running third behind Stoner and Andrea Dovizioso but with the Australian pulling away at the front, Lorenzo was eager to dispatch his teammate and set off in pursuit.
But the Spaniard lost control coming into Copse and admitted it was his mistake, although he added that he had to push if he was to retain any hopes of victory.
“I feel disappointed because the crash was my own mistake. It’s a shame for the team because they did a very good job all weekend and also my Fan Club who come here to support me. I was riding with confidence, but I had to wait my moment to overtake Andrea. I think I could have fought for the victory with Casey. I wasn't worried that Simoncelli was catching me; I was worried because Casey was going if I didn’t overtake Andrea… then I crashed! Before Casey was chasing me, like a greyhound with a hare but now the situation has reversed. Now we have to go for the victory in Assen!”
The incident, Lorenzo's first DNF since Australia 2009, proved costly as it allowed Casey Stoner to take over the championship lead, but Team manager Wilco Zeelenberg expects there to be plenty of twists and turns before the title is decided.
“Conditions today were very difficult, Jorge had not much grip in the rear for the first three laps. After five or six laps it improved a little bit so he got up close to Dovizioso to try and make an overtake. Unfortunately he lost the rear and went over the handlebars, ending his race. It's not the best result, my first DNF with the team and Jorge's first for 25 races. We were leading the Championship, we're now 18 points behind but everything is still open. There are 12 races still to go so let's go to Assen and see what we can do.”
Yamaha Factory Racing had their worst weekend of the season with Ben Spies crashing on the same lap as Lorenzo. The American was in sixth place before his accident at the high-speed Abbey corner and was feeling sore afterwards.
“I'm so disappointed to finish like this after we worked so hard to be ready for the race. It's been a challenging weekend for all the guys with the different weather changes but we were ready to race with a really good package. The track was really wet, when I hit the brakes going into turn one the front just dropped away and I hit the wall before I knew it. I hit my back pretty badly, my back protector is really busted up, but it did its job. I'm really sore and will probably need a big cushion for a few days but I'm happy it wasn't worse. We'll take a few days to relax and recover then come back fighting at Assen.”
Team Director Massimo Meregalli was relieved to see both riders emerged unscathed and hopes to see dry conditions return when the MotoGP World Championship moves to Assen in two weeks.
“This was not the results we were expecting today. Both Ben and Jorge and their crews have worked extremely hard all weekend to find both wet and dry competitive set ups, resulting in a good qualifying and giving us confidence for the race. Unfortunately the difficult racing conditions led to both riders falling and being unable to continue. Jorge was able to return directly to his garage uninjured however due to the severity of Ben's crash he was first taken to the medical centre for essential checks to his back and neck. Finally he has been given the all clear so despite the two DNFs we are relieved to be able to leave Silverstone with both Jorge and Ben uninjured.”
“We will put this weekend behind us and head to Assen in two weeks time determined to continue our form from Barcelona.”
