First MotoGP win on home soil a “dream” for Lorenzo

Jorge Lorenzo’s first MotoGP victory on home soil in the premier class at the Gran Premio bwin de España was the reward for a superb ride on Sunday, as the Fiat Yamaha rider fought his way to the front of the field to take all 25 points at Jerez.

“It has always been one of my dreams to win a MotoGP race in Spain and this was like a movie, everything that could possibly happen did! This has been an amazing day, I can't believe I've achieved this in front of all the Spanish fans at this magical place,” enthused a delighted Lorenzo.

Starting from the front row of the grid Lorenzo found himself down in fifth place as he went into the second lap of the race, but worked his way through those in front of him before passing team-mate Valentino Rossi and then taking on and beating Dani Pedrosa on the final lap to secure the win – his sixth in the premier class.

“It was a very hard race because I made such a bad start and then found it very difficult in the first laps – I gave myself a tough job to do,” he said. “After that I started to feel better and rode like a demon to get to the front. Once I passed Valentino I knew that I couldn't take it easy, I had to try everything to win and it was all I could think about.”

Lorenzo continued: “I had a great fight with Dani and in one moment we nearly crashed so I had to try again, on the very last lap! I know it's better to win races calmly, from the front, but lately that hasn't been the way for us and I have had to fight on every lap. I tried to pass Dani a couple of times but he managed to stop me, then I eventually did. Sincere compliments to him because I’ve never seen him so determined.”

The win placed Lorenzo at the head of the 2010 World Championship standings after two rounds and the third race of the campaign will be at Le Mans in three weeks, where he won last year’s race. “I’m not thinking about that now, I’m only thinking about celebrating with the team!” he said.

Those celebrations included diving fully leathered and with helmet into the lake at the circuit after the race. He added: “I saw the lake on Thursday and thought it would be funny to jump in and I think the fans liked it, but I didn't really think about how heavy I'd be with wet leathers and for a minute I thought I wasn't going to get out!”