Assen MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo survives late scare

Jorge Lorenzo survived a late scare to coast to his fourth MotoGP win of 2010 and move a step closer to winning his first premier class crown.

Only a third of the 18-round series might have been completed but Lorenzo is already 47-points clear of his closest challenger Dani Pedrosa.

The Fiat Yamaha rider cruised to his fourth win in six races in Holland but only after a late scare when he nearly lost control of his factory YZR-M1 at the final chicane.

He’d opened up a comfortable lead having easily dismissed the challenge from Pedrosa and former world champion Casey Stoner and he said: “It wasn’t easy though and at the end I was sliding quite a lot, in fact I made a mistake at the chicane and nearly crashed so I was quite glad to finish.

“The tyres were sliding a lot in the entry of the corners with the track condition being hotter than during the practice. The last laps were quite difficult to keep the pace high, so I entered the final chicane this corner a little bit faster and I had a big slide on the rear.

“I almost crashed but I stayed on the bike. I saw that Dani had improved his bike and Casey was faster too, especially at the beginning, so it was important to keep my mind quiet and not to be too afraid and nervous during these laps. 

“Maybe my start was not the same as Dani’s start, but it was fast enough to keep the first position in the first corner. In the first lap I opened a gap of 1.3 seconds but then suddenly it came back to zero.

“I saw this for about ten laps and it was a difficult moment, but I kept concentrated. I knew that waiting a little bit and letting the tyre performance drop down, I could have a little advantage.

“I was confident that my harder Bridgestone tyre would help me later on and this was the case, so we made the right choice. I was able to open up a gap and at the end it was a good win for me.”

Consistency has been Lorenzo’s key strength so far in 2010 and he’s yet to finish below second place.

He added: “The important thing is we can be always on the top, in every practice and in every race. If we are not winning the race we are second. But we are there.

“We are very constant. This is the key point of this year. But we must keep the same concentration from the first six races to the end of the championship and it is not an easy job.”