Statement of intent from Lorenzo as he closes on 250 title

Lorenzo has now extended his world championship lead to 24 points. © Fortuna Aprilia. Jorge Lorenzo made a bad start to the Australian Grand Prix and had to overtake Sylvain Guintoly, Marco Simoncelli, Hiroshi Aoyama, Andrea Dovizioso and Alex de Angelis, before claiming the lead at Phillip Island on lap ten. The Mallorcan rider rode the first half of the race with great intelligence having made things difficult for himself, despite starting on pole after dominating qualifying.

He fought his way back through the field, increasing his rhythm to make it to front. From there he turned up the heat and set a pace that only Alex de Angelis was able to maintain as Hiroshi Aoyama and Andrea Dovizioso, his closest title rival, were dropped. De Angelis fought all the way to the end, but it was Lorenzo who took the chequered flag by just 0.009 seconds from the San Marino rider.

It has been Lorenzos eighth victory of the season, and with it he equals Dani Pedrosa's record from 2005 with both now holding the record for the number of race wins in a single season by a Spanish rider. Max Biaggi, Marco Melandri and Valentino Rossi have all managed nine, Mike Hailwood and Anton Mang ten, while the outright record is held by the late Dajiro Kato with 11 in 2001. After his victory, and with Dovizioso finishing back in fourth, Lorenzo has now extended his world championship lead to 24 points with just three races left: Motegi (Japan), Estoril (Portugal) and Ricardo Tormo (Valencia).

Jorge Lorenzo: “I'm very happy, what a finish! It was a very hard race that I won by a whisker. I did not expect the pace to be so intense. I got a bad start and tried to recover, taking a few risks on the first lap - maybe too many. De Angelis was lapping very quickly and also deserved to win, but coming out of the last corner I pushed really hard because I did not want to be caught and beaten on the line. We have extended our lead in the championship to 24 points, nearly a whole race, but we must not get carried away. We need to keep working hard and not relax because we can still be betaen. I am an aggressive rider and, although Motegi is not an ideal circuit for Aprilias, I hope to get a good result and get even close to my objective. I am very happy and want to congratulate Alvaro Bautista (newly-crowned 125cc World Champion), he's a nice person and a great rider. I am sure that next season he will give me a great fight."
(Fortuna Aprilia)

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