Yamaha factory rider Jorge Lorenzo to have new engine after Estoril Grand Prix – MotoGP news
At the beginning of the 2011 MotoGP season, Jorge Lorenzo, the 2010 MotoGP World Champion, was ready to face an expected defeat as the Repsol Honda trio was dominating the time charts
throughout the winter testing season.
The most prominent Honda riders were Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa who were challenging Lorenzo.
However, Lorenzo proved his art at racing and stole two podium places at the first two rounds of the ongoing season.
Lorenzo was second to finish at Commercial Grand Prix of Qatar, just after Casey Stoner on his RC212V. However, the second round in Jerez totally fell in his pocket after the much-discussed crash of Rossi and Stoner. Casey Stoner was leading the grid
from the start of the race when his winning chances were eclipsed by Rossi who slipped on his inside while overtaking at turn 1 and swept the Honda rider with him.
The Spanish, Yamaha factory rider scored his 15th premier class win at Gran Premio bwin de Espana and now shares the position with Alex Criville as the most successful GP rider from Spain.
Lorenzo said, “The season is long and hard, very complicated, but then nobody was expecting us to take first position at Jerez, or second in Qatar, but we were there. We stayed on the bike, which was complicated, because in these two races we had to
push at the maximum, but so far everything’s gone without a hitch.”
During both races, Lorenzo was outperformed by the Honda riders with their new clutch-gear system, which makes the 2011 RC212V a staggering performer on track.
The Yamaha factory team rider also understood the need of improved handling and power in the new 1000cc M1 machine.
“I’m not an engineer, I barely know how to take off a wheel, I only know how to go as fast as I can on a bike. I consider myself to be a sensible rider who through the passage of time and with the experience I’ve collected is able to give indications
which are more or less correct,” he said.
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