Jorge Lorenzo - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com
Jorge Lorenzo is confident the Yamaha team will avoid the problems they faced at Le Mans last year when they return to the circuit this weekend. The team had one of their least competitive weekends of the year 12 months ago but after performing so strongly in the first three events of 2012, Jorge is expecting much better this time.
“We arrive in good shape having always been in the first two positions in the three races of the year so far, I want to keep this going in Le Mans. Last year we struggled, especially in acceleration but I feel that this year is going to be a little different. It's a good track for my riding style so we will try to fight for the win again but always thinking about the Championship.”
Teammate Ben Spies is targeting a step forward after his best result of the season so far in Portugal. Eighth still falls short of the expectations Spies will have had at the start of the season but the American believes things are moving in the right direction.
“I'm looking forward to getting back on the bike again this week. My confidence has been rebuilding well now we've found a good set up that works so I think we can make another step and improve our performance again at Le Mans. It's not my favourite track but I'm going to give it 100% as always to achieve a good result on Sunday.”
Team Manager Wilco Zeelenberg thinks last year's struggles were merely a blip and expects the 1000cc YZR-M1 to adapt well to Le Mans.
“After three strong races and a very close Championship so far we are looking forward to going to France. We had a tough race last year and struggled a lot but the year before was a strong victory. Jorge likes the track so we are curious to see how the 1000cc bike behaves this time as we have traditionally performed well there. We hope to return to the successful rhythm Yamaha has had at Le Mans.”
