Jorge Lorenzo - Photo Credit: Yamaha
Jorge Lorenzo was happy to settle for second in yesterday's Portuguese Grand Prix after struggling for pace in qualifying. The Yamaha rider could only manage fourth on Saturday but raced well to finish right on the tail of Casey Stoner, a result Jorge didn't expect prior to the start.
“I'm happy with this second position because I was expecting to fight for third or fourth and not the victory. The bike improved a lot from the practices so it was possible. I had two problems, at the start I used a lot of clutch and burnt it so for two or three laps it was burning and I lost a lot of distance from Casey. Also at the end Casey was very strong. After this everything was working well and I made a fastest lap, which is not very common for me. We are just one point behind Casey, hopefully we can improve something on the bike and be in front again.”
Teammate Ben Spies had his best race of the season but eighth still represented a disappointing outcome after starting on the second row. The American described the race as a step forward though and heads to Le Mans in two weeks time in high spirits.
“Very mixed emotions today, this is actually the first time in three years that I've finished a race here. As I told the team, I made four or five big mistakes during the race, they cost me time and places. It was a rough race but I'm continuing to build my confidence, I don't enjoy Estoril so I'm happy to have finished. Now we go to Le Mans which is a great event with an amazing crowd but another track I don't love so much! I'm happy with the bike and it's performance so we'll continue to build my confidence and improve the results.”
