Jorge Lorenzo admitted he had to keep patient in his battle with Casey Stoner before taking victory at Silverstone on Sunday. The Spaniard extended his championship lead to 25 points after overtaking the Honda at half distance but he didn't have it as easy as it might have appeared.
“Today was a very difficult race, the front guys were very strong and very fast so it was very hard for me to catch them and stay with them. Little by little the rear tyre drops a bit more, I had good confidence and I was faster than them and I started to catch them. When I caught up I didn't want to crash so I waited for my moment and was patient. When I caught Casey we had a wonderful fight, luckily for us I had a better pace and I passed him. Four laps from the end I made a big mistake and almost crashed! I'm very happy with the result, and for the team who gave me a good bike again.”
Yamaha teammate Ben Spies picked up his best result of the season in fifth but after starting from the front row and leading the opening laps, the American was slightly disappointed to miss out on the podium.
“Today was a bitter sweet day, we made a good start and had a really good pace in the beginning. After four or five laps we had a big problem with the rear tyre and lost all our momentum and pace. It turned into damage control after that. From the start of the season to now, top five is a better result. The potential of the bike was great today and we could have been fighting for the podium or the win with Jorge.”