Jorge Lorenzo is expecting a tough race against Dani Pedrosa and the weather conditions in tomorrow's Italian Grand Prix. The Yamaha rider was beaten to pole position by his compatriot although a loss of power prevented Jorge from responding late in the qualifying session. With hot weather expected, Lorenzo is expecting a race of attrition and is confident of victory.
“In the lap before the last I felt a loss of power in some corners. On the final lap I was red until the last corner then I felt the power drop much more so I had to enter the pits and stop. I made some good laps, although not completely perfect and I felt I could make a better one. It's going to be a very tough race for everyone so we have to stay calm and save some energy for the end.”
Teammate Ben Spies was also left to ponder what might have been after crashing twenty minutes from the end of the session. The American didn't feel as confident when he switched to his spare bike and wound up a frustrated ninth.
“During the qualifying we changed to the soft tyre and tried a different rear shock at the same time, I'm not sure if that was the problem but I lost the front and we crashed. When we got to the back-up bike we still had plenty of time but something got picked up on the brake rotor, dirt or rubber or something and the brakes were vibrating horribly so I couldn't brake as late as I needed to. We did the best we could and the bike is working really well so I think we could have dipped into the 47s on the soft tyres.”