Kenny Roberts terms Jorge Lorenzo favourite for 2011 MotoGP championship – MotoGP news
Three-time 500cc World Champion ‘King’ Kenny Roberts has stated that Jorge Lorenzo will be a tough competitor for the2011 MotoGP title.
Roberts referred Lorenzo’s riding style as that of a little ‘bulldog.’
Roberts said, “Once Jorge gets his teeth into this thing, he's not going to let go. He's like a bulldog wrapped around your ankle. They are going to have a hard time getting this championship away from him because he's pretty head-strong.”
He was present at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for Yamaha’s 50th anniversary celebrations in grand prix racing. There he saw the determination and focus of the Spanish rider.
Roberts added, “Jorge has big potential. He's been on my ranch, three years ago I think, training the way that Wayne [Rainey] and everybody used to train on dirt bikes. I talked to Jorge in LA and he wants to come back to my ranch and do it again. So there
are some similarities I see in him.”
The former champion also said that the riding style he used to race with is still useable these days. He said that it is more useful for Jorge Lorenzo than any other rider in the present premier class and vowed to work more with Lorenzo.
Jorge Lorenzo crashed in the morning FP3 session of the recently held US Grand Prix and felt pain in his arms. Though he had sore hands, he showed his potential and claimed the pole seat for the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix. The effort made by Lorenzo impressed
‘King’ Roberts.
Continuing his race fight for a win, Lorenzo led the race for about 26 laps. With just three laps on the countdown, he was passed by the championship leader from Repsol Honda, Casey Stoner. However, the Spaniard did not easily let it away. Thereafter he
pushed to maintain his second position across the finish line.
Now Lorenzo stands 20 points adrift from championship leader Casey Stoner. The Spaniard is working hard and improved his pace in the last couple of races which also earned him his season’s second victory at Sachsenring. Let’s see how he performs in the remainder
of the 2011 MotoGP season.
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