SPEAKING at the press conference for his new book Jorge Lorenzo revealed that he will try a new engine in the Yamaha M1 at the Estoril post-race test.
At the head of the season, the reigning champion already appeared with some what of a defeatist attitude when seen in the competitive company of the factory Honda trio, but despite this Lorenzo has come away from the first rounds at Qatar and Jerez with second and a win respectively. Commenting on the proposed engine he said: “It’s a different engine, we’ll see if it’s better, the same or worse.”
Notching up his 15th premier class win at Jerez and equaling Alex Criville as the most successful Spaniard. Lorenzo acknowledged his miraculous performance: “The season is long and hard, very complicated, but then nobody was expecting us to take first position at Jerez, or second in Qatar, but we were there. We stayed on the bike, which was complicated, because in these two races we had to push at the maximum, but so far everything’s gone without a hitch.”
With many voicing the opinions, Lorenzo was asked weigh in with his thoughts on the clash between Stoner and Rossi at Jerez: “When you’re on a bike the adrenaline is flowing at its maximum, and for Stoner it was all going great – victory in Qatar and pole at Jerez.
"He was at the head of the race when he went down, taken down by another rider. If that happens to be Valentino and he’s someone you don’t like much, as is the case with Stoner, it bothers you more. It was in the heat of the moment and you can forgive what he did. It was a human error from Valentino. Perhaps he was too fired up because he saw a possibility… he was more fired up than normal, and that’s why he crashed.” observed Lorenzo.
Adding to the subject of Rossi, Lorenzo spoke on his time with the now Ducati rider and their relationship in the Yamaha pit: “Valentino has been a very important rival in my MotoGP career, a very tough one, but I respect all rivals in the same manner and as equals and I don’t idolise anyone,” said Lorenzo. “All the riders who line up on the starting grid are capable of beating you on any given day. I don’t give any greater or lesser importance to Valentino than I do to any other rider.”
With Ducati getting a head start on their public development of the Desmosedici GP12, the factory Yamaha rider saw the need for the 1,000cc machine to retain the handling and braking characteristics of previous incarnations, but hoped for more power than the Yamaha typically has. In terms of his contribution to the next 1,000cc generation of the M1, Lorenzo remained humble: “I’m not an engineer, I barely know how to take off a wheel, I only know how to go as fast as I can on a bike. I consider myself to be a sensible rider who through the passage of time and with the experience I’ve collected is able to give indications which are more or less correct. I think it’s based on these indications that the new 1,000cc bike is being made.”
The book launched by Lorenzo is titled 'The new King of MotoGP' and recounts his career through pictures giving fans the opportunity to get an in-depth insight in to the life of Jorge.
