Lorenzo ecstatic with difficult race win

Swapping bikes midrace for the first time in his career on Sunday at the Grand Prix de France Jorge Lorenzo’s timing and decision making was perfect at Le Mans - as he built up a good lead from the first lap before changing onto slicks after any of his rivals to eventually win by a comfortable margin at round four.

The triumph in tricky conditions was Lorenzo’s third premier class win and his second this season as he bounced back brilliantly from the heartbreak of his costly crash on the day before his 22nd birthday at Jerez two weeks ago.

Riding just on the limit in France Lorenzo showed no sign of lacking confidence after his Spanish setback and having reclaimed the championship lead, thanks to the demise of his Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi, the Spaniard commented:

“It was very difficult because I am not used to changing bikes in the middle of the race and this was the first time in my life that I have done it. I am grateful for the victory because I was fast with the wet tyres and also with the dry ones. I knew it would be so hard because you have to change bikes at the right moment, if you do it one lap too late you could lose. We changed at the perfect point and we are back on top.”

On the relief of putting Jerez firmly behind him Lorenzo also stated, “After that there was just darkness in my mind, but after a few days I started concentrating on this race. I have been riding well all weekend here and especially today. If in Spain I rode badly in the race then here I was able to do my best and ride the way I know. I also had a little bit of luck because it could have been easy to crash.”

Leading the championship again, Lorenzo explained, “Well in my dreams this could not happen, but it is happening for real. I won and Valentino crashed. I dislike that he has crashed because he is my team-mate, but sometimes it happens and we know he will be a very dangerous rival in the championship, so we have to stay very focused.”