Jorge Lorenzo is looking forward to racing without any pressure on his shoulders at this weekend’s season finale having clinched the MotoGP World Championship in Australia. The Yamaha rider rounded off his 2010 title winning season with victory at the Ricardo Tormo circuit and admits it would be “amazing” if he could repeat that on Sunday.
“This is the last round of the season, it’s a great feeling to be coming home to my Spanish fans as the world champion. It’s been a long, tough year and we have all worked so hard to get here, now this weekend will be one to enjoy for all of us with less pressure. I will of course still be pushing for the top step of the podium, it would be amazing to end the year with a victory.”
With Ben Spies injured, Katsuyuki Nakasuga will partner Lorenzo in the factory squad and is looking to make the most of the opportunity as he did here last year.
“It’s a big honour to be chosen by Yamaha again to represent them at Valencia. The level of the talent is so high in the MotoGP field but I will do my best to make Yamaha proud with this opportunity. As the Yamaha test rider this is also a good opportunity to gain further valuable data for the M1.”
Spies’ absence has left Team Director Massimo Meregalli with mixed feelings ahead of Valencia, especially with the American leaving for Pramac Ducati next year.
“It’s with mixed emotions that we come to the last race of the year, we are obviously overjoyed to be world champions, a very deserved title after all the hard work Jorge and the team have put in to get there. On the other hand it is a great shame we won’t have Ben with us for what would have been his final appearance for Yamaha. We wish him well with his recovery in the US and we welcome Nakasuga-san back into the team for this round. We are confident that he will adapt quickly again to the GP grid and exceed expectations on Sunday.”