Q & A with Jorge Lorenzo
|By David Emmett
||Monday, September 20th 2010, 11:05 GMT
Jorge Lorenzo finished off the podium for the first time all season at Aragon last weekend, being pushed back to fourth place by Nicky Hayden on the final lap.
Although the Spaniard still has an ample championship lead, he is beginning to get concerned about Yamaha's downturn in pace, as he told reporters after the race.
Q. How was the race?
Jorge Lorenzo: Well, we didn't crash... We got 13 points and we have to be positive - this is good for the championship. We only lost seven points to Dani [Pedrosa], so it's not so bad. It could be much worse.
But for sure I'm not happy about the race, I'm not happy about the pace I did or the result. It's obvious. But now we cannot repeat the race, so we have to think about Motegi.
Q. What was the problem?
JL: From the beginning of the weekend we had problems with traction. We had a lot of wheelspin from the middle to the exit of the corners. The performance of the tyre went down very quickly and very much. Normally I am stronger and stronger every lap.
Apart from the problem with the power, we have this problem with traction. So it was quite difficult.
Q. Have the others caught up and did you simply have problems on this particular track?
JL: I hope this is for this track only.
Q. How does it feel to have such a big speed difference on the straight?
JL: It's not only this straight. If it were only this straight, I would not be worried. But it's on every straight that we lost a lot of metres. If you don't have traction and you don't have any positive points, it's impossible to recover. At this track it was like that. I think with the same engine at another track I think it would be better.
Q. Are you worried about the rest of the season?
JL: I'm not worried, because that doesn't give me more speed. For sure I'd prefer to have 56 points' advantage than not to. I'd prefer to have this [points gap] with a slower bike than to have the fastest bike. So we hope for the new engine and we'll see what happens.
Q. Will that be your sixth and last engine?
JL: That will be the last engine.
Q. So it's got to last five races?
JL: Yeah, maybe we will only use this engine for races.
Q. Will you get the new engine at Motegi or in Malaysia?
JL: Motegi is more probable.
Q. How more power do you expect the new engine to bring?
JL: My dream is 30 horsepower... But I don't think my dream is going to come true...
Q. When you've got such a disadvantage on the straights, how much more of a risk are you having to take?
JL: Yeah, a little bit more, for sure. It's obvious that the Yamaha now is not the strongest bike on the grid. But it's not so bad. I want to return to victories. For now, it's difficult.
Q. Nicky Hayden described his last-lap pass as a 'backyard move', what did you think?
JL: He stayed on, so it's allowed... For sure it's not the best podium he will have in his career because he was a little bit taking profit from my [slow] pace. But the race direction hasn't said to Nicky, 'don't do that', because it's possible to do that. It's okay. The next race will be different.
Q. Did he surprise you?
JL: The problem was maybe if I'd closed the door more, he would try anyway and maybe we would crash. For me the position was okay. I didn't want to take so many risks to close the door and take the risk of a crash. Also if I'd closed the door in this corner, Nicky would have overtaken me on the straight.
Q. Would it be better to be beaten by Pedrosa than by Valentino Rossi if you don't win the title?
JL: It's the same. I want to win the championship and I will try. If it doesn't happen, I will be disappointed. But if Dani beats me, he will be the number one.