2010 MotoGP British Grand Prix preview
Round five of the 2010 MotoGP world championship comes to Silverstone this weekend for the British Grand Prix.
MotoGP makes a return to Silverstone for the first time since 1986, and the new track layout has made it one of the fastest on this year’s calendar.
Jorge Lorenzo is leading the driver’s standings with 90 points, 25 points ahead of Dani Pedrosa in second.
Lorenzo is the form driver, but in the last race he was beaten to the race victory by Pedrosa at the Italian Grand Prix. Spaniard Lorenzo has a great chance to become world champion this year following the absence of Valentino Rossi. He has been on the podium for every race so far this season, and has two wins to his name so far this season. “My aim is once again to get on the podium, but I was disappointed after Mugello and I want to have a better race in England. I am happy with my lead in the standings but I want to keep improving this weekend,” said Lorenzo.
In the continued absence of Rossi - out for the season with a broken leg - his Fiat Yamaha teammate has said winning the title this year will be a lesser achievement. “Winning a title's always great but without him maybe the championship has lost a bit of value. I want to be world champion with Valentino on the track.”
Pedrosa now looks likely to mount the challenge to Lorenzo for the championship. The Honda driver took a lights-to-flag victory in Italy and wants to continue his good form. “We arrive at Silverstone in good shape after the victory in Mugello. We had a very good weekend in Italy and myself and the team need to make the most of it to maintain this momentum,” said Pedrosa.
All the drivers will head into the unknown on the new Silverstone circuit, and it’s a great chance for Pedrosa to eat into Lorenzo’s lead. “I cannot say much about Silverstone. From what I've seen it's a fast circuit, high speed overall, with many right-hand corners which are taken with the throttle open. It looks like an old-fashioned circuit,” said the Spaniard.
Lorenzo is favourite to become world champion, but he is not thinking about winning the title just yet. “For me it's better not to think about the championship and focus more on enjoying each race and improving my riding, because we know there are improvements to be made,” he said.
In today’s first practice session, Lorenzo set the fastest time of 2.05:991 seconds, ahead of the Ducati of Casey Stoner in second (2.06:133s) and Andrea Dovizioso in third (2.06:347s).
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