After a win in Assen for Ben Spies, it was Jorge Lorenzo who grabbed another win for Yamaha at the Italian Grand Prix. After a lightning start from 5th on the grid to slot in behind the then leader, Casey Stoner. After falling slightly behind Stoner at the midway point, and getting involved in a tussle with Andrea Dovizioso, Lorenzo gradually closed the gap at the front.
As Stoners tyre were falling away, Jorge took the lead and held on for the win. “For a long time it has been one of the sweetest victories.” said Lorenzo.
“The victory in Jerez was not 'real' because it was raining. It's been a tough race because of the hot conditions without water in the camel back. I pushed and tried to be there with all of my heart! I tried to overtake Andrea in the downhill at the chicane and then I did the same with Casey because I thought it was the perfect corner for it. Now we have a competitive bike and I hope to keep this pace.” he continued.
He finished with a positive note, saying, “Now I am more motivated and confident for the future, after this great result. I think it was one of my most demanding races in my career. It reminded me a bit the 125cc times, with many overtakings. I did a good start again and now I just want to watch the race again on TV. Congratulations to all of my team, they never gave up. I knew it would have been difficult today, but the 'martillo' is back!”
Ben Spies got bogged down at the start of the race and fell to 5th, and was caught in a race long scrap with Marco Simoncelli. After holding out and switching positions all race long, Spies came out on top, and grabbed 4th place.
“It was a good race, me and Simoncelli battled it out. I made a couple of mistakes at the beginning which I'm a little upset about.” said Ben.
“Looking at the lap times we definitely weren't the strongest but I think we were just on the cusp of fighting for the podium. I made a couple of crucial mistakes on lap three and six and then let the front guys get away. We did a good job getting back up to Simoncelli. Once I saw we weren't going to catch the front guys I let Marco back by, I wanted him to pull me around to see where I was stronger than he was. I left it until the last lap, the last corner I could see he was leaving the door wide open so we were able to sneak right in and get fourth place. It's great for Yamaha to get a win and me a fourth, I would have liked to have been on the podium but you can't do it every time. Marco and I had fun, we had a couple of good passes back and forth and he was clean so I was happy!” he continued.
