Jorge Lorenzo takes Spanish victory; Marquez endures pain to resist late charge from Rossi to finish second

Jerez (Spain), 3 May 2015: Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo underlined his dominance this weekend at Jerez by speeding to victory at the Spanish Grand Prix, setting a new Circuit Record Lap time on his way to the chequered flag.

Lorenzo started from pole position and set an impressive pace throughout the twenty-seven lap contest, smashing the existing race lap record by eight-tenths of a second on lap two and setting an overall race time twenty seconds quicker than the old record as he crossed the finish line. Finishing in second place 5.576 seconds behind Lorenzo was Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez who despite nursing a broken finger on his left hand was able to resist a late charge from Valentino Rossi.

Rossi was on the charge right from the start of the 27-lap race. Shooting from fifth to fourth into turn one, he soon closed the gap to Pol Espargarò to overtake him on lap four. The nine-time World Champion was now on a mission to close down a two-second gap to front runners Lorenzo and Marquez, while at the same time managing his lead over Espargarò and Cal Crutchlow. Though the gap to Marquez initially increased, the Doctor refused to give up. His determination was rewarded when, with 15 laps remaining, he started to wheel his rival back in. However, as the Doctor‘s front tyre began to wear down in the final stages of the race he was unable to repeat his performance in Argentina. He decided to settle for third and take his fourth consecutive podium this season, marking the 200^th podium finish of his career.

Yesterday’s clear and sunny conditions gave way to long periods of cloudy skies today and as a result, today’s peak track temperature of 40°C was fourteen degrees lower than yesterday’s high. The cooler temperatures didn’t have a large influence on race tyre choice, with twenty-three riders selecting the hard compound front slick – only Team SUZUKI ECSTAR riders Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales opted for the medium compound front slick. The medium compound rear slick was the most popular race choice with thirteen riders selecting this option, while eleven riders chose the soft compound rear slick. Only one rider selected the hard compound rear slick. The revised tyre allocation for this year’s Spanish Grand Prix brought with it a big boost in performance, with six riders able to lap under the previous race lap record.

Lorenzo’s first win of the season moves him into third place on the MotoGP points table, twenty points behind teammate Rossi who maintains his lead in the standings. Despite finishing in ninth place, Andrea Dovizoso still holds onto second place in the standings, the Ducati Team rider sits fifteen points behind Rossi after four rounds.

“The fact that I could make a lap time of 1’38.7 at the beginning of the race was quite impressive. Today I felt really good, especially under braking which is what I sometimes struggle with on Sunday but this time, the whole weekend has been perfect. With the bike working so well everywhere, I was able to profit from my speed and talent, and to take a win at Jerez is really special.”

“I am absolutely proud of myself and of the team that we finally delivered some extraordinary work, because we had some problems that have been beyond our control. Due to the lining of the helmet in Doha, my illness in Austin and the tyres in Argentina we couldn‘t demonstrate our true potential. This time I could do it during the whole weekend and especially on braking. Sometimes it happens that on Sunday I feel a bit worse on braking than during the rest of the weekend, but today that didn‘t happen. I was able to brake really late, enter well into the corners, and carry good corner speed and acceleration, so everything was fine. When this happens you have to make profit of it and win the race. I was thinking about jumping into the lake, but I am 28 years old…! It‘s not the same as when you are 23, so in the last second I decided to stop and go back to the bike. Today it‘s mother‘s day so it‘s very special, because my mum saw the race and saw me winning and tomorrow I turn 28. It‘s important that we recover some points to Vale because he‘s been very strong at the beginning of this season and always on the podium. It‘s also important we have recovered the feeling and ability to go fast and now we have to enjoy these hours, this night and this victory!”

Nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi said: “It was a difficult weekend. From Friday on we were struggling a lot to find the right setting and I wasn‘t able to ride on the maximum level. We improved and worked until after the warm up, trying to improve the setting. In the end it‘s a podium, so it‘s not so bad, but also in the race I wasn‘t strong enough to fight with Jorge and also with Marc. Especially entering the corners I wasn‘t at 100%. I had one moment in the race where I was not doing so bad and I was close to Marc. We hoped for another good fight until the end and I thought I could do it, because I got the gap down to one second, but had to give up. I have scored a lot of points and scored two victories and four podiums. This time I extended my lead to Dovizioso, but it looks like Jorge also came back into the championship with this victory. He is just 20 points behind, but the championship is still long. We don‘t have to think about the points yet, just of the bike, trying to be competitive every weekend.”