Jorge Lorenzo rues mid-season mistakes

Jorge Lorenzo fears his painful crashes in Holland and Germany earlier this season will prove crucial in his bid to capture a third MotoGP world title in 2013.

The Spaniard produced yet another stunning display at Misano yesterday to romp to a start-to-finish victory that cut the gap in the title chase to Marc Marquez to 34-points with five races left to run.

Lorenzo has been in sparkling form since returning to full fitness after his title challenge was seriously undermined by crashes in the Assen and Sachsenring races.
The factory Yamaha rider broke his left collarbone in a practice crash at the historic Dutch TT but returned just 48 hours later to ride to a heroic fifth place.

Disaster struck though at the next race when he crashed in practice for the German MotoGP round in mid-July and further damaged the left collarbone.

Forced to miss the Sachsenring race and compete while less than 100% fit at Laguna Seca and Indianapolis, Lorenzo was powerless to stop rookie sensation Marquez from winning four races in succession to strengthen his bid to lift the premier class crown at the first attempt.

Lorenzo has now won five races in 2013 to equal the victory tally of Repsol Honda foe Marquez and he said: “Five victories is a lot to be in second place in the championship but I made a mistake in Assen and also Germany, so it was my own fault. The past is the past and I can’t change it. We need to look to the future, improve the bike and win in the next race.”

Winning is all Lorenzo can do to try and maintain the pressure on Marquez, who has now scored 12 podium finishes in 13 outings on board Honda’s factory RC213V.
A key pre-race front fork change helped Lorenzo claim a sixth consecutive win on Italian soil in Misano and he added: “If I want to win the championship I have to win races and that is the only thing I can do. Marc is really strong. He is always of first or second, so he is a really hard to beat but I have to keep trying and that is what I am going to do.”

For more coverage from the Misano MotoGP weekend see the September 18 issue of MCN.