Daily Update MotoGP

Jorge Lorenzo said that his lack of pace in the Spanish Grand Prix was more disappointing than the crash that put him out of his home race.
The 21-year-old Spaniard put his Yamaha on pole position at Jerez, but made a bad start and ran fourth for most of the race before losing the front end of his M1 at the Angel Nieto bend while in pursuit of Casey Stoner's Ducati.

Prior to his accident, Lorenzo had been unable to get within half a second of his team-mate Valentino Rossi's lap times after he failed to set his bike up correctly for the track conditions.
"Unfortunately today the temperature meant that our setting did not work in the same way [as in qualifying] and at the moment we don't understand why," said Lorenzo. "This is really more disappointing than the actual crash."
Lorenzo admitted that the cause of the crash, which came on lap 22 after he had reduced a four-second deficit to Stoner to a little under a second, was purely rider error.
"Fourth position wouldn't have been so bad but when you're in front of your fans, at home with so much adrenalin on the bike of course you try to do the maximum," he added.
"I could see that the podium was possible and maybe the right thing would have been to go more gently and not push so hard in that moment, but I always want to do my best. Then I made a mistake and I threw all my good work away."
His failure to score points meant that Lorenzo dropped from the lead of the championship to third, 24 points behind winner Rossi.
ref[AS]
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Having made a big step forward on Sunday at the Gran Premio bwin.com de España Valentino Rossi thanked his Fiat Yamaha crew for the changes they made to his bike, after qualifying, which helped him to his first win of 2009.

The MotoGP World Champion built on his two second places at Qatar and Japan with his Spanish success, to give himself an 11 point lead at the head of the standings after three races of his title-defence.
Rossi’s first appearance on the top step of the podium since winning at Malaysia in the penultimate round of 2008 came courtesy of some setting changes to his Yamaha M1 machine made by Crew Chief Jeremy Burgess and his staff – after Rossi complained of being uncomfortable with the wind at Jerez on Saturday as he qualified in fourth place.
The Italian star stated his intentions with the fastest time in the Sunday morning warm-up and he made the most of his set-up improvements once the race got underway as he hunted down early leader Dani Pedrosa for another classic victory.
Afterwards, he stated, “The situation changed quite a lot from yesterday for us because I wasn’t confident with the bike on Saturday. So we modified the setting and we tried to recreate the feeling which I like on the corners and it worked well so I have to thank my team.”
“To win here at Jerez is fantastic because it is a great place and a great Grand Prix. I am so happy because I am top of the championship but I know I am fighting against some very strong rivals who are very difficult riders to beat.”
When pressed as to what changes had been made Rossi kept his cards close to his chest, but did admit that they were significant alterations and have made a big difference to him as he rides – perhaps an ominous sign for his rivals as MotoGP approaches races at Le Mans, Mugello, Barcelona and Assen.
“Well we have changed quite a lot on the bike and it looks like things are a lot better,” Rossi commented. “I had this problem at the first two races and now we are much more competitive so I think we will continue like this.”
Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 45m18.557s
2. Dani Pedrosa Honda + 2.700s
3. Casey Stoner Ducati + 10.507s
4. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda + 31.893s
5. Marco Melandri Hayate Kawasaki + 33.128s
6. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha + 34.128s
7. Loris Capirossi Suzuki + 34.421s
8. Andrea Dovizioso Honda + 34.625s
9. Toni Elias Gresini Honda + 42.689s
10. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki + 45.183s
11. Sete Gibernau Hernando Ducati + 48.192s
12. Yuki Takahashi Scot Honda + 51.875s
13. James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha + 53.683s
14. Alex de Angelis Gresini Honda + 53.941s
15. Nicky Hayden Ducati +1m01.237s
16. Niccolo Canepa Pramac Ducati +1m10.896s

Retirements:

Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 23 laps
Mika Kallio Pramac Ducati 12 laps
ref[motogp.com]
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Jorge Lorenzo beat his countryman Dani Pedrosa to a home pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix in a thrilling qualifying session at Jerez.
Casey Stoner completed the front row alongside the two Spaniards, with Valentino Rossi squeezed back to fourth place.
Practice pace-setter Pedrosa (Honda) had been quickest for much of the session after setting a very early fast lap. Championship leader Lorenzo then jumped ahead by half a second with 13 minutes to go, only for Pedrosa to usurp him again within moments.

But Lorenzo still had more time in his Yamaha, producing a 1m39.266s lap to reclaim pole from Pedrosa by 0.2s, and then extending his advantage by lapping in 1m38.933s next time around.
That stood as pole position, for although Pedrosa closed to within 0.051s, he could not beat Lorenzo.
Stoner was 0.4s off Lorenzo's pace as he took his Ducati to third at what is arguably his weakest circuit, while Rossi was unable to join the fight for pole - lapping 0.7s down on his team-mate on the way to fourth.
Randy de Puniet produced a typically spectacular qualifying run to put his LCR Honda fifth, ahead of Suzuki's Loris Capirossi.
Colin Edwards (Tech 3 Yamaha), Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) and Toni Elias (Gresini Honda) will fill row three ahead of Capirossi's team-mate Chris Vermeulen.
Nicky Hayden's struggles on the factory Ducati continued as he took 16th, just behind late crasher Alex de Angelis's Gresini bike, and ahead of only the two satellite Pramac Ducatis.

Pos Rider Bike Time Gap
1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m38.933s
2. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m38.984s + 0.051s
3. Casey Stoner Ducati 1m39.415s + 0.482s
4. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m39.642s + 0.709s
5. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda 1m39.806s + 0.873s
6. Loris Capirossi Suzuki 1m39.862s + 0.929s
7. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1m39.926s + 0.993s
8. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m39.966s + 1.033s
9. Toni Elias Gresini Honda 1m40.112s + 1.179s
10. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1m40.185s + 1.252s
11. Marco Melandri Hayate Kawasaki 1m40.381s + 1.448s
12. Sete Gibernau Hernando Ducati 1m40.440s + 1.507s
13. Yuki Takahashi Scot Honda 1m40.599s + 1.666s
14. James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha 1m40.670s + 1.737s
15. Alex de Angelis Gresini Honda 1m40.796s + 1.863s
16. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m40.953s + 2.020s
17. Mika Kallio Pramac Ducati 1m41.238s + 2.305s
18. Niccolo Canepa Pramac Ducati 1m41.253s + 2.320s


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