German MotoGP: Arm pain slows Jorge Lorenzo

Jorge Lorenzo blamed an old habit he’s not shaken from his 125GP days for his failure to deny compatriot Dani Pedrosa a fairytale victory in Germany yesterday.

The reigning world champion rides with one finger constantly on the clutch lever, a legacy from his formative years worrying about two-stroke 125GP engine seizures.

The problem is the tight and twisty Sachsenring track is dominated by left-hand corners, with only three out of 13 turns right-handers.

And the factory Yamaha rider blamed the extra stress on his left forearm for his failure to run Pedrosa closer for the win.

“When you are in 125s you are always very scared that the engine breaks and you fly through the air, so I couldn’t throw away this habit in MotoGP. During the race I wanted to change it, so I tried to hold one finger off the clutch. But it doesn’t work and the bike goes wide.

“I came back to my normal style but my forearm was completely finished. I could relax a little bit on the straight and it helped me to finish the race in good condition. The forearm was the big problem and that’s why I couldn’t fight with Dani for the victory, “said Lorenzo.

He didn’t take anything away from Pedrosa though, who controlled the race brilliantly once he hit the front on lap 22 out of 30.

He told MCN: “I was surprised about his pace in the middle of the race because I was pushing so hard and making 21.9. I dropped to a 22.1 and 22.2 and he caught me very quickly.

“He’s won here five times so he obviously likes the track but riding 22.0 and 21.9 like he did is incredible, so he deserved this victory and he is riding so well.”

Lorenzo did at least cut Casey Stoner’s lead in the title race to 15-points thanks to a brilliantly executed overtake at the final corner to grab second.

He added: “Casey was in front of me and wasn’t pulling away, but I was thinking I’d finish third. But Casey was there and he closed the door maybe too much at the bottom of the hill. I play all my cards in the last corner and it was a very important move for the championship.

“It is an unbelievable result. After Silverstone and Assen I was very far away from Casey and before Silverstone we were very confused. Now we have more clear things with the bike and we are there in every track and we have options to win the world title.”

For seven pages of coverage from the German MotoGP round, see Wednesday’s MCN.