Jorge Lorenzo returns to form with Austrian GP podium

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo made a stunning return to form today, taking third in the NeroGiardini Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich at the Red Bull Ring – Spielberg circuit.

Starting from fourth on the grid, Lorenzo catapulted from the line but was clipped by Marc Marquez going turn one, but despite being pushed wide the Mallorcan made a quick dash to the front and joined the front fight between Rossi, Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone and skillfully put his YZR-M1 in second place behind the latter.

The Factory Yamaha rider was eager to hit the front, making multiple overtaking manoeuvres but it wasn‘t to last and he had to let Dovizioso past.

With a small margin forming between him and the front two riders and Rossi tapping on the back of his YZR-M1, Lorenzo responded by setting his best personal lap of the race thus far with 14 laps remaining, and soon the blue bikes were back in contention for the win. A brief state of grace saw the Yamaha riders running within 0.8s of the race leaders, but towards the end the Michelin tyres dropped, affecting the pace.

Unable to challenge the front riders, the current World Champion decided to focus on defending his podium position and brought his bike over the line in third place, 3.389s from first.

The third place finish keeps Lorenzo in second place in the standings on 138 points, 43 points from first.

JORGE LORENZO
“Honestly, when you have one or two challenging races like me, finishing in third place is not the same as a victory, but it almost feels the same because our rivals were almost in another world during the test and throughout the weekend, in qualifying and also the second part of the race. To finally finish in third place just three seconds from the winner is a great result and we are very satisfied with the work we did on the bike and the concentration I kept during the race with the rear tyre moving a lot in the last part. I‘m very happy and we should keep working, we recovered some points to Marc and it‘s important for the championship. Anything can happen, like we saw yesterday. Marc crashed and almost got seriously injured. We need to stay focused and have some luck and wait.”

Source: Yamaha Racing