Reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo delivered an incredible performance this afternoon, taking a hard fought victory at Mugello to claim the Grand Prix of Italy, the second consecutive GP win for Yamaha this season. The Yamaha Factory Racing rider was quick to get his YZR-M1 off the start line, jumping from fifth on the grid to tuck in behind race leader Casey Stoner on the first corner. Stoner went on to build an early lead while Lorenzo engaged in a battle with Andrea Dovizioso for second. Having finally dispatched him after four laps the Mallorcan began the hunt for Stoner. Lorenzo delivered a series of perfect laps to catch and then pass the race leader before extending a lead of just under a second to the line.
Ben Spies spent the Mugello race locked into a battle with Marco Simoncelli for fourth place. The American rider had opted for a slightly different set up to that used during the practice sessions and struggled to gain the same performance for the race. Having swapped places with Simoncelli several times Spies then waited to make his move, passing the Italian on the final lap to take fourth place in the sweltering Tuscan sunshine.
Lorenzo now heads to Sachsenring for the Grand Prix of Germany in two weeks time having reduced the gap to Championship leader Stoner to 19 points with a total of 133. Team mate Spies jumps another place up in the standings to sixth, just 13 behind Valentino Rossi in fourth.
Jorge Lorenzo
Position 1st – Time 41.50.089
“For a long time it has been one of the sweetest victories. The victory in Jerez was not ‘real’ because it was raining. It’s been a tough race because of the hot conditions without water in the camel back. I pushed and tried to be there with all of my heart! I tried to overtake Andrea in the downhill at the chicane and then I did the same with Casey because I thought it was the perfect corner for it. Now we have a competitive bike and I hope to keep this pace. Now I am more motivated and confident for the future, after this great result. I think it was one of my most demanding races in my career. It reminded me a bit the 125cc times, with many overtakings. I did a good start again and now I just want to watch the race again on TV. Congratulations to all of my team, they never gave up. I knew it would have been difficult today, but the ‘martillo’ is back!”
Ben Spies
Position 4th – Time +8.980
“It was a good race, me and Simoncelli battled it out. I made a couple of mistakes at the beginning which I’m a little upset about. Looking at the lap times we definitely weren’t the strongest but I think we were just on the cusp of fighting for the podium. I made a couple of crucial mistakes on lap three and six and then let the front guys get away. We did a good job getting back up to Simoncelli. Once I saw we weren’t going to catch the front guys I let Marco back by, I wanted him to pull me around to see where I was stronger than he was. I left it until the last lap, the last corner I could see he was leaving the door wide open so we were able to sneak right in and get fourth place. It’s great for Yamaha to get a win and me a fourth, I would have liked to have been on the podium but you can’t do it every time. Marco and I had fun, we had a couple of good passes back and forth and he was clean so I was happy!”
Wilco Zeelenberg – Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager
“A great race, we feel really happy for everybody. He deserved it really well and fought for it right to the last lap. He did the pace that only Jorge could do, especially at the end. I’m really happy for him and for the team; we all worked hard together to get this. Now we are back in shape and feeling better than we ever did so let’s see what happens in the next 11 races.”
Massimo Meregalli – Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director
“ First of all, Jorge made a fantastic race, the way he controlled the racing was superb and also how he passed Stoner on the most difficult point of the circuit showed us his confidence. To win here in Italy for the first time is great. We have two wins now which is really important for us, it proves that the work we have done so far is good. For sure we are looking to Sachsenring with good optimism. Ben had a difficult start to the race then he was catching up. He could have caught the first three guys but then he had some fighting with Simoncelli. He was calm and waited until the last lap to pass him and get a good fourth place. This brings valuable points for the championship standings.”
Edwards battles to top ten in Mugello
Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider Colin Edwards rode to a hard fought ninth position in scorching hot temperatures during the Gran Premio d’Italia TIM at the Mugello track in Italy this afternoon.
Starting from his best grid position of the season in sixth place, the Texan quickly established himself in a group locked in an exciting fight for sixth position that included home crowd favourite Valentino Ross and compatriot Nicky Hayden.
Despite pushing hard to remain in the five-rider battle, Edwards was unable to maintain his fast early pace, the 37-year-old not getting the grip levels he expected from his soft compound Bridgestone rear tyre choice as track temperatures hit well over 50 degrees.
Today’s 21-lap race ended in premature and disappointing fashion for Cal Crutchlow. The British rider was involved in the captivating tussle that involved Edwards when he experienced a loss of feeling and confidence with the front-end of his YZR-M1 machine in the early stages.
Not wanting to risk a crash that might further damage the left shoulder he broke during qualifying for his home race at Silverstone last month, Crutchlow opted to retire after completing six laps and is now concentrating on making a return to the top 10 when the 2011 MotoGP World Championship resumes at Germany’s Sachsenring on July 17.
Colin Edwards
Position 9th – Time +33.421
“That was a pretty tough race. Basically we made the wrong rear tyre choice but it was so hard to decide which one was g oing to the better option. I’d been fast on both options but I felt like there was an advantage with the softer compound. It seemed easier to do the lap times that I needed to do to get away with the guys at the start. But I changed my mind a few times because we’d not had the afternoon sessions on Friday or Saturday because of the rain, so we didn’t know how the tyre would react in the really hot conditions. With the track temperature much higher I just never had the grip I expected at the beginning. It never changed from the first lap to the last. There was no drop in performance, but it never really had the grip I wanted at the beginning. At the end of the day we made a bad call and sometimes it doesn’t work out. To come out of a difficult race with a top ten is still a half decent result, so we move on now and hope for a better race in Germany.”
Cal Crutchlow
DNF
“Right from the first lap I didn’t have any confidence or feeling with the front-end and I kept running wide. I just didn’t want to crash with the Silverstone shoulder injury at the back of my mind, so I felt the safest option was to pull into the pits. I was in that battle fighting for sixth place and the last thing I want to do is not fight, but I felt like I’d reached my limit. I am sorry for the Team because we have all worked incredibly hard and now I am determined to put this race behind me and focus on having a strong weekend at the next race in Germany, which I’m looking forward to.”
Hervé Poncharal
Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team Manager
“This was a difficult race for everybody on the grid. The weather was changing all weekend and I think we never had that temperature on track on Friday and Saturday that we saw today, so tyre choice was a bit of a gamble. Our riders to ok the soft rear and hard front and the start was not so bad and I think they were having a good race until Cal came into the pits. This is the second time in successive races that he has stopped and in Assen we could clearly see there was a problem. But his tyre choice was the same as Colin, so I would have expected him to stay out considering where he was in the race. And he needs experience of the bike and this track, so we’ll put today behind us and hope to see him showing his true potential in Germany. Colin did not have the ideal set up because of the changing conditions and he still finished ninth and got some points and that is important, so he did a fantastic job in difficult circumstances. I also want to say big congratulations to Yamaha and Jorge. Not a lot of people can recover that gap to Casey and the second week in a row we have seen how strong the Yamaha YZR-M1 package is. I hope we will be closer to them for the next race.”
2011 MotoGP Italy
Mugello 03/07/2011
race I
1 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 41’50.089
2 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 0’00.997
3 Casey Stoner Honda AUS 0’01.143
4 Ben Spies Yamaha USA 0’08.980
5 Marco Simoncelli Honda ITA 0’09.076
6 Valentino Rossi Ducati ITA 0’26.450
7 Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 0’28.745
8 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 0’32.043
9 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 0’33.421
10 Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 0’34.724
11 Hiroshi Aoyama Honda JPN 0’37.359
12 Karel Abraham Ducati CZE 0’64.000
13 Alvaro Bautista Suzuki ESP 0’47.654
14 Randy De Puniet Ducati FRA 0’48.840
15 Toni Elias Honda ESP 1’15.199
MotoGP World Standing
Rider Standings After Race 8 of 18
1. Casey Stoner Honda AUS 152
2. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 133
3. Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 119
4. Valentino Rossi Ducati ITA 91
5. Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 77
6. Ben Spies Yamaha USA 74
7. Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 69
8. Hiroshi Aoyama Honda JPN 56
9. Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 53
10. Marco Simoncelli Honda ITA 50
11. Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 44
12. Karel Abraham Ducati CZE 37
13. Toni Elias Honda ESP 35
14. Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 32
15. Alvaro Bautista Suzuki ESP 30
16. Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 22
Circuit Length:
5245
Temp:
29
Weather:
Dry
Lap Record:
1’50.117
(Max Biaggi, 1/1/2005)
Fastest Lap Ever:
1’42.837
(Valentino Rossi, 6/4/2006)
Last Years Winner:
Daniel Pedrosa
Manufacturer Standings
03/07/2011
1 Honda 185
2 Yamaha 164
3 Ducati 99
4 Suzuki 36
Team Standings
03/07/2011
1. Repsol Honda Team 251
2. Yamaha Factory Racing MotoGP Team 207
3. Ducati Marlboro Team 168
4. San Carlo Honda Gresini 96
5. Monster Yamaha Tech3 85
6. Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP 44
7. Cardion AB Motoracing 37
8. LCR Honda MotoGP 35
9. Pramac Racing Team 34
10. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 17
