Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jorge Lorenzo denies title chase will be affected by missing Japanese GP
Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jorge Lorenzo has denied rumours that his 2011 MotoGP title chase will be affected by missing the Japanese Grand Prix.
The Spanish rider has been saying that he will not be attending the MotoGP event at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit. After winning the last round at Misano, he is confident that missing an event would not affect his fight for championship.
Lorenzo said, “My decision on Japan is not going to be based on the championship. If I am really convinced to go then I will go. If I am not I don’t care about the championship because as I said always this year my first priority is my health.”
Though Casey Stoner leads the championship points chart but Lorenzo has closed the gap to 35 points. It has motivated Lorenzo to stick to his decision. He has revealed that his priority is his health, not the championship. He thinks skipping one round out
of the last five will not trouble him.
The factory rider at Yamaha is conscious about the nuclear radiations at the surroundings of Motegi. The news spread after the Fukushima nuclear plant was severely damaged after the earthquake hit Japan earlier in 2011. During the earthquake and tsunami
disaster, the country experienced large scale damage to its structure.
During the earthquake, the Motegi circuit was also damaged and its grandstand and tarmac needed repairs. The circuit was repaired before time for the Japanese MotoGP event and also has been tested with bikes.
Earlier in the season, Casey Stoner and other MotoGP riders including Valentino Rossi, Lorenzo and Marco Simoncelli have been calling out for the Japanese round. However, Stoner has softened his stance over attending the Japanese GP. Still there has been
no clear view from the top-notch riders to attend the 15th premier class event of the 2011 season.
On the other side, Yamaha have declared that the Japanese factory team will definitely take part in the home event even if both factory riders Lorenzo and Ben Spies decide not to ride in Japan. The factory team has called in its test riders for the backup
in case Lorenzo and Spies decide to sit out the event.
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