Lorenzo took the holeshot from pole at the Sepang circuit with his closest rival Dani Pedrosa in pursuit less than half a second
behind. The Mallorcan led the race until just before the last corner on
lap nine where the Spanish Repsol Honda rider was able to make his move. The rain increased at this
point making riding extremely difficult for all the riders and Lorenzo
himself miraculously saving a fall into turn 15. In the thirteenth lap the race was red flagged after a number of
riders fell in the treacherous conditions.
With two more races to go this season, Lorenzo holds a 23 point lead in the Riders Championship. Lorenzo can secure his second MotoGP title this weekend in Australia if he manages to finish in the top 13 and in front of Pedrosa.
American Ben Spies had dropped three places from the start grid, avoiding another rider spinning off the line. As a result the Texan went into the first corner in ninth position, then dropping to tenth in the tird lap. Spies then found an impressive race pace matching the guys at the front and it looked like he was moving up the field until he fell on the eighth lap in the incredibly slippery conditions.
Jorge Lorenzo
“If we were riding at 20km per hour it is easy to stay on the bike but it is very difficult to find the limit in these conditions. They made the right decision to stop the race, for us it was great because we might otherwise have finished on the ground and crashed. We used the soft rear where Dani and Casey used the harder one. When the conditions were ok they used less of the centre of the tyre so when the conditions became worse they had more to play with.”
Ben Spies
“What a shocking race, the water on the track was incredible. I’m really sorry for rubbing into Nicky, I thought I had enough space to brake; I’m relieved we didn’t go down together and he was ok. It was a close one at the start as well, Dovi spun off the line and we were lucky not to make contact. That was one of the wettest races I’ve had in a long time, my shoulder’s really sore from the fall but thankfully nothing too serious so I’ll be able to ride in Australia.”
Press release courtesy of Yamaha Factory Racing.
With two more races to go this season, Lorenzo holds a 23 point lead in the Riders Championship. Lorenzo can secure his second MotoGP title this weekend in Australia if he manages to finish in the top 13 and in front of Pedrosa.
American Ben Spies had dropped three places from the start grid, avoiding another rider spinning off the line. As a result the Texan went into the first corner in ninth position, then dropping to tenth in the tird lap. Spies then found an impressive race pace matching the guys at the front and it looked like he was moving up the field until he fell on the eighth lap in the incredibly slippery conditions.
Jorge Lorenzo
“If we were riding at 20km per hour it is easy to stay on the bike but it is very difficult to find the limit in these conditions. They made the right decision to stop the race, for us it was great because we might otherwise have finished on the ground and crashed. We used the soft rear where Dani and Casey used the harder one. When the conditions were ok they used less of the centre of the tyre so when the conditions became worse they had more to play with.”
Ben Spies
“What a shocking race, the water on the track was incredible. I’m really sorry for rubbing into Nicky, I thought I had enough space to brake; I’m relieved we didn’t go down together and he was ok. It was a close one at the start as well, Dovi spun off the line and we were lucky not to make contact. That was one of the wettest races I’ve had in a long time, my shoulder’s really sore from the fall but thankfully nothing too serious so I’ll be able to ride in Australia.”
Press release courtesy of Yamaha Factory Racing.