Lorenzo loses internal Yamaha fight for the podium, but could win title in Sepang

Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo put on a brilliant show for the Japanese fans at Motegi today, fighting it out for the final podium position in a battle that went down to the wire. Rossi just prevailed over his team-mate to take third, his sixth podium of the season, while Lorenzo’s fourth place sets up his first Championship match-point at Sepang next weekend.

The excitement between the pair started at turn one, when Lorenzo pulled an audacious move on Rossi, passing him around the outside and exiting the second corner in third place, with the Italian in fourth. As the eventual-winner and runner-up Casey Stoner and Andrea Dovizioso moved clear in front, Rossi was determined not to let his team-mate escape and stuck close behind, looking for every occasion to pass him. He tried a few times before he was able to make it stick and the reigning World Champion eventually passed the current championship-leader on the sixth lap of 24, going on to set the fastest lap of the race on the next lap.

Rossi and Lorenzo then settled into a rhythm with a gap of a few tenths between them, although they were unable to make much headway on the leaders, who were nearly two seconds ahead of them by that point. As the race sped towards its climax Rossi’s tyres began to slide a little and Lorenzo took the fight to him, making his first move on lap 18 but unable to stay in front. On the penultimate lap an incredible passing sequence led to the pair touching fairings on more than one occasion and the excitement did not end there, as they swapped positions several more times before Rossi just gained the advantage in the final few corners and crossed the line half a second in front.

Lorenzo is now 69 points ahead of the injured Dani Pedrosa and needs to be at least 75 ahead of his fellow Spaniard after the Sepang race to seal the win there. Rossi has slipped back to fifth in the championship but he is only three points off Dovizioso and has fourth firmly in his sights. The MotoGP paddock now packs up and moves straight to Malaysia for the next round in one week’s time at Sepang.

Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 4th Time: +6.221
“This was a big battle between Valentino and I, two warriors with the killer instinct. I have to say that at some points I do not think he was completely fair, we were both on the limit but some of his moves were maybe a bit too much and he touched me and pushed me wide when I don’t think it was right. We are team-mates, I am fighting for the Riders’ Championship but we are both fighting for the Teams’ and Manufacturers’ Championship as well and we have to remember this. I am disappointed to miss the podium of course because I wanted one at Yamaha’s home, but this is racing. We chose to ride with the old engine to be safe and then I wasn’t getting the best feeling from the front tyre, so things weren’t perfect for me, but anyway we took some good points. We are very close to getting our dream and I really hope we can do it next weekend in Sepang.”

Wilco Zeeelenberg – Team Manager
“We just need a few more points! This wasn’t a perfect race for us and we struggled a bit when the track changed after Moto2, especially at the hard braking in turn one, but our target was to play it safe and take points so we are happy. Of course the end of the race was exciting, but Jorge is a winner and even with the situation with the championship he was never going to give up on the final podium spot easily. It was a great battle between the two strongest riders in the world but they are team-mates and Valentino took too many risks and touched Jorge a couple of times, which should not have happened when Jorge is fighting for the championship. Anyway, considering the front-end issues and the fact that we chose not to run the new engine, we have to be very happy with these points and now we are all just focused on Sepang and the possible championship victory there.”