Yamaha factory’s Jorge Lorenzo says hand injury not the cause for 2011 title loss – MotoGP news
Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jorge Lorenzo accepts the fact that his hand injury from Phillip Island did not cost him the MotoGP title for the 2011 season.
The former MotoGP world champion Lorenzo trailed Casey Stoner of Repsol Honda by 40 points. Stoner’s consistence made him the untouchable successor in the 2011 championship with 10 wins.
On the contrary, Lorenzo only had three wins in the season and seven podium finishes. Though he missed only one race in the season but could not manage to take wins in the 2011 season.
Lorenzo shared his views with Motorcyclenews.com and said, “I don’t think I lost the championship because of my injury. I lost the championship because all together we weren’t competitive enough to fight with Casey and Honda and that’s the main issue. I
hope next year we will be more competitive.”
The Spaniard faced a hand injury during the Australian Grand Prix weekend. He had a severe crash during the pre-race warm-up lap.
Lorenzo shredded off the fingertip of his ring finger and was declared to miss the race. Another unpleasing moment was when Lorenzo’s teammate Ben Spies was also called out of the race due to a high-speed crash during a qualifying practice session.
Both Yamaha factory riders were sidelined for the crucial event. If Lorenzo had won the Australian GP, it would have changed the chase for the 2011 MotoGP title.
After undergoing a cosmetic surgery, Lorenzo was forced to miss the Malaysian Grand Prix. Spies was also not able to race at Sepang due to his physical condition.
Doctor suggested Lorenzo to even miss the season finale at his home ground. His recovery was delayed. He was also unfortunate to miss the official MotoGP test session held at Ricardo Tormo circuit, Valencia.
As Lorenzo was injured, Stoner stepped up to take the title for 2011 MotoGP season by his home event at Australia.
He took 10 wins and 6 podium finishes in the 18-race season. The Malaysian GP was cancelled due to Marco Simoncelli’s death. He once collected ‘did not finish’ status at the Jerez event.
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