Victory in his home Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya has made Jorge
Lorenzo the first rider to claim three race victories in the 2013
MotoGP™ season. A quiet afternoon for Yamaha Factory Racing teammate
Valentino Rossi saw the Italian end proceedings in fourth position, 5.8
seconds behind the winner.
Sunday proved to be ideal for the reigning world champion, who not only
claimed a second consecutive race win and his third at Barcelona in
four years, but also his 26th premier class victory to move one ahead of 1993 title winner Kevin Schwantz.
“A perfect day,” Lorenzo begins. “To be honest I didn't expect to win; I knew I had some chance, but not like in Mugello where I was more convinced we could get the victory. It was really difficult physically as it was the hottest race of the year. I kept pushing 100% all race because any mistake would have been a disaster.
“I was surprised at the start, as I expected to just pass Cal (Crutchlow) but I passed Dani (Pedrosa) as well. I took profit from it and tried to open the gap but it was not enough to get away; Dani was there and we played some games. Finally, because I was tough mentally and never gave up, I could open up a little gap in the last five laps that was enough to win.”
Rossi’s fourth place marked an improvement on the first-lap crash of his home race a fortnight earlier, but the multiple champion is still searching for more.
“We wanted to try and arrive on the podium, but it was quite a good race anyway,” the Italian began. “Race by race, apart form the unlucky times especially like Mugello, we grow up and I am able to ride the bike in a better way. We still have some challenges, especially in the first part of the race where I still don't have the right setting to push to the maximum.
“After some laps my pace was not so bad and we were not so far from the top guys. We did a good job and we will now go for two days of testing where we will try to improve further. We don't give up, we will make another step and we will not be so far from the front.”
In the riders’ standings, Lorenzo has now moved to within seven points of championship leader Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team).
“A perfect day,” Lorenzo begins. “To be honest I didn't expect to win; I knew I had some chance, but not like in Mugello where I was more convinced we could get the victory. It was really difficult physically as it was the hottest race of the year. I kept pushing 100% all race because any mistake would have been a disaster.
“I was surprised at the start, as I expected to just pass Cal (Crutchlow) but I passed Dani (Pedrosa) as well. I took profit from it and tried to open the gap but it was not enough to get away; Dani was there and we played some games. Finally, because I was tough mentally and never gave up, I could open up a little gap in the last five laps that was enough to win.”
Rossi’s fourth place marked an improvement on the first-lap crash of his home race a fortnight earlier, but the multiple champion is still searching for more.
“We wanted to try and arrive on the podium, but it was quite a good race anyway,” the Italian began. “Race by race, apart form the unlucky times especially like Mugello, we grow up and I am able to ride the bike in a better way. We still have some challenges, especially in the first part of the race where I still don't have the right setting to push to the maximum.
“After some laps my pace was not so bad and we were not so far from the top guys. We did a good job and we will now go for two days of testing where we will try to improve further. We don't give up, we will make another step and we will not be so far from the front.”
In the riders’ standings, Lorenzo has now moved to within seven points of championship leader Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team).
