Lorenzo storms to victory in Japan

From motogp.com

Jorge Lorenzo emerged victorious from a thrilling Polini Grand Prix of Japan at Twin Ring Motegi on Sunday, the second win of his MotoGP career and a result that retained his 100 per cent podium record in the 2009 season.

The Fiat Yamaha rider took little time in taking the reins of the race, having started from the front row and showed no fear when faced with the likes of Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi in front of him. However, despite a relatively comfortable advantage, Lorenzo was never quite able to say a definitive ‘sayonara’ to his rivals as the action heated up. He held on to cross the line with a gap of less than two seconds between him and second placed teammate Rossi.

Lorenzo moves up into first place in the overall classification, for the second time in his MotoGP career.

“I am the leader in the championship but I still think that (Casey) Stoner, Valentino and Pedrosa are stronger than us,” Lorenzo told motogp.com after the Twin Ring race. “They are more experienced with the Bridgestone tires but we are still learning about them and improving. Today I had a great opportunity to win. I knew that with a hard rear tire I had good pace, so I saw the chance and I attacked.”

The battle for second place in the race was MotoGP at its finest, as Repsol Honda man Pedrosa exchanged overtaking moves with Rossi in the middle third of the 24 laps. Pedrosa took third from out of nowhere, having had a storming start from the fourth row of the grid.

“I’m happy, because it was a great race,” said Rossi, the reigning World Champion. “We had four riders fighting for the victory, a lot of overtaking, and I think that everyone enjoyed the race –especially me! I didn’t feel confident with the bike at one point. It didn’t ride very well and I lost time with Lorenzo and Pedrosa. Fortunately in the last part of the race I could improve my pace and lines to take second.”

Ducati Marlboro rider Casey Stoner was unable to break away as he had done in Qatar, finishing fourth and keeping up the pressure in the general standings.

“We were running lap times which would have made me capable of racing at the front if we hadn’t lost so much time at the beginning of the race," the Australian explained. "On my warm-up lap we found we had a problem with my front brake which was causing a lot of chattering and this was the case for the first six or seven laps so I had no confidence on the brakes.”

Andrea Dovizioso completed a fine day for Repsol Honda in fifth, ahead of Marco Melandri, Loris Capirossi, Mika Kallio, James Toseland and Chris Vermeulen.

Home rider Yuki Takahashi crashed out of the race in a collision with Nicky Hayden on the second lap.

“That was exactly what we didn’t need," Hayden said. "I got a decent start and I think I was up a couple of positions but just going down into the hairpin, which is a slow hard-braking corner, I was on my line and Takahashi just took me down. There was no warning - I didn’t even hear anything! I don’t want to say much about that, I don’t want to look like a cry-baby but, you know, it was the first lap… luckily I feel okay.

"I actually landed in the same place on my back as the crash in Qatar and my leathers and helmet have got exactly the same marks.

"It’s a shame because this weekend I honestly felt we were making some progress. I felt we had better communication going on and we worked more comfortably from the first day. I know we were never looking at a great result but I felt I could have been competitive today."

Results
1. J. LORENZO (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 43:47.238
2. V. ROSSI (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team +1.304
3. D. PEDROSA (SPA) Repsol Honda Team +3.763
4. C. STONER (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team +5.691
5. A. DOVIZIOSO (ITA) Repsol Honda Team +9.207
6. M. MELANDRI (ITA) Hayate Racing Team +30.555
7. L. CAPIROSSI (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +32.756
8. M. KALLIO (FIN) Pramac Racing +39.416
9. J. TOSELAND (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +43.106
10. C. VERMEULEN (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +43.245
11. R. DE PUNIET (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP +44.834
12. C. EDWARDS (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +46.540
13. A. DE ANGELIS (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini +53.525
14. N. CANEPA (ITA) Pramac Racing +1:21.804
15. T. ELIAS (SPA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1 Lap
Not classified
S. GIBERNAU (SPA) Grupo Francisco Hernando 7 Lap
Not finished 1st lap
N. HAYDEN (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team
Y. TAKAHASHI (JPN) Scot Racing Team MotoGP

Point Standings
1. Jorge LORENZO (Fiat Yamaha Team) 41
2. Valentino ROSSI (Fiat Yamaha Team) 40
3. Casey STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 38
4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Repsol Honda Team) 22
5. Dani PEDROSA (Repsol Honda Team) 21
6. Colin EDWARDS (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) 17
7. Mika KALLIO (Pramac Racing) 16
8. Chris VERMEULEN (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) 15
9. Alex DE ANGELIS (San Carlo Honda Gresini) 13
10. Marco MELANDRI (Hayate Racing Team) 12
11. Randy DE PUNIET (LCR Honda MotoGP) 11
12. Loris CAPIROSSI (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) 9
13. Toni ELIAS (San Carlo Honda Gresini) 8
14. James TOSELAND (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) 7
15. Nicky HAYDEN (Ducati Marlboro Team) 4
16. Sete GIBERNAU (Grupo Francisco Hernando) 3
17. Niccolo CANEPA (Pramac Racing) 2
18. Yuki TAKAHASHI (Scot Racing Team MotoGP) 1