Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo had a disappointing 100th Grand Prix today, crashing out of the Italian round of the championship on lap seven when running strongly in sixth place. His team-mate Valentino Rossi on the other hand took an outstanding victory, his seventh consecutive win at his home track.
Lorenzo, who is still not quite at 100% after suffering two fractured ankles in China one month ago, had struggled all weekend to find a good set-up, hampered by the lack of dry track time after losing Friday and Saturday morning to rain. Starting from seventh however he seemed to have found a better rhythm and was lapping as fast as the leaders when he made a mistake at turn ten, lost the front and slid into the gravel trap. It was a frustrating end to the weekend for the young Spaniard who was hoping for more after already having taken three poles, a rac e win and three podiums since he joined Yamaha at the start of the season.
Valentino Rossi’s maximum points haul today moves him 12 points clear at the top of the championship, whilst Lorenzo slips to third, 16 points behind Dani Pedrosa. He will not have to wait long to make up for today’s disappointment however as the paddock now heads straight to Barcelona and his home track for the Catalunya round next Sunday.
Jorge Lorenzo
Position: DNF “We have had a lot of problems this weekend but today for the race I was feeling very motivated and I got a good start. I think I could have fought for the podium and I can only say sorry to my team and to all of my fans; it was my mistake. I shouldn’t have tried to pass Dovizioso in this corner, it wasn’t the right place and I will learn from it. I am not worried about my mental condition though and I am now focused on Catalunya. Montmelo is coming and this is a good thing because I only have to wait five days until I can ride the bike again. In China we had to make some changes to the bike to enable me to ride in my condition and since then maybe we haven’t been exactly right with the set-up, but now we know where the problem is. Congratulations to Rossi, he was the best today!”
Daniele Romagnoli - Team Manager “Unfortunately this weekend has been very difficult for us and we weren’t able to improve the set-up of the bike enough. We made some changes in the warm-up however and it seemed Jorge had a better pace during the early laps than he has had all weekend. It’s a pity that he crashed but these things happen! Now we have to analyse all of the data from this weekend in order to find the right set-up for Barcelona so that we can give Jorge a good package for his home race. Thanks to all the team for doing a great job in difficult circumstances, unfortunately it wasn’t to be this weekend but we’re going to try to make up for it in Montmelo.”
Masahiko Nakajima - Team Director “I am very sorry for Jorge’s crash. We know that from Shanghai onwards he has had a very hard time, even if at the last two races he has been able to get great results, and due to this we’ve lost the direction for the bike setting a little bit. Also here in Mugello unfortunately we didn’t have enough dry conditions to find the right set-up. Despite today however we believe that we can improve this situation and find the right way forward and I know that we will be able to give Jorge a very good bike for his home race in Barcelona next week.”
Ambient temperature: 29 degrees
Track temperature: 42 degrees
Humidity: 30%
Results: 1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 42'31.153
2. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro + 2.201
3. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda + 4.867
4. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini + 6.313
5. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha + 12.530
6. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha + 13.806
7. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 14.447
8. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP + 15.319
9. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini + 15.327
10. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki + 30.785
11. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team + 39.621
12. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team + 50.021
13. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda + 50.440
14. Tadyuki Okada (JPN) Repsol Honda Team + 58.849
15. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing + 1'00.736
Not Classified:
Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 17 LapJohn Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing 17 Lap
Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 18 Lap
Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro 18 Lap
Championship Standings 1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 122
2. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 110
3. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 944. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 76
5. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 58
6. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 51
7. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP 44
8. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 43
9. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda 40
10. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini 35
11. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki 31
12. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing 26
13. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro 24
14. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team 24
15. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini 24
16. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 18
17. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team 12
18. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing 6
19. Tadyuki Okada (JPN) Repsol Honda Team 2
Mugello: Record Lap: M. Biaggi (Honda) 2005, 1'50.117
Best Lap: S. Gibernau (Ducati) 2006, 1'48.969
