Jorge Lorenzo - Photo Credit: Bridgestone Motorsport
Jorge Lorenzo and Yamaha have promised to give everything in their attempts to deny Casey Stoner a home victory after the Spaniard qualified second on the grid. Stoner was untouchable in qualifying and duly took his 11th pole of the season but Lorenzo is hopeful that his race pace is much closer to the Honda.
“We did a very good job today. We tried many things and I believe we have the right set up for tomorrow. I have to thank my team who worked hard to make sure I have the best possible bike to fight with. The race will be very tough, it will be very important to be consistent with a good race pace. I will try to win, I know it will be very difficult here with Casey but I will try!”
Teammate Ben Spies will line up in seventh place but the American is lucky to be starting at all after a heavy accident early in the session. Spies lost control of the YZR-M1 going through the high speed turn three and although he suffered minor injuries, he is looking forward to moving forward in tomorrow's race.
“I got a little bit off line in qualifying this afternoon and hit a big bump, losing the front. It's unfortunate as we were trying a different bike set up which was looking pretty good. It happened on the third lap, according to the data I came off at 270km/h so I went through the gravel trap pretty quick! My knees, ribs and elbows are all pretty banged up but that's normal, that's how it is. The bike is working well so we need a good start; we're in a good position on the grid for it so we'll see what happens.”
Team Director Massimo Meregalli is confident that Spies will be able to complete the race despite the pain and hopes the Yamaha squad will be able to reel in Honda tomorrow.
“The race is not going to be easy tomorrow. Jorge is starting from the first row which is important, I'm sure he won't give up until the end and he will have to put all his efforts in for the whole 27 laps. Despite a bad crash Ben managed to qualify in seventh. This wasn't so bad considering, as I didn't expect that result. He's very sore all over but he still pushed hard and did all he could. Tomorrow will be tough and painful for him but we know him and we know he will give 100%.”
