MotoGP Austin: Jorge Lorenzo "I knew it was difficult here, in fact I didn't think I'd finish so close to Marquez"

Jorge Lorenzo he closed the Austin grand prix in 3rd place, 3.3 seconds behind Marc Marquez. The reigning world champion therefore placed second in the forecast, immediately behind the two official Hondas and thus managed to limit the damage in the general classification. Lorenzo was always behind the two HRC team bikes throughout the weekend and practically never saw them in the race, except a few laps from the end when a mistake by Pedrosa had brought him closer to number. 26 but it was now too late to worry about it.

“The truth is that I didn't think I'd get so close to the winner – said Jorge Lorenzo – in the warm up we made some changes that allowed us to improve the acceleration of the bike but we were still behind the Hondas. It was a very tough race physically, but the truth is that Marc had already shown in the test last March that he was extraordinary here and when someone as strong as him rides a bike like the Honda it's really tough. We were worried with this track because I knew I could lose a lot of points but in the end we remain leaders and now a good track arrives for us. The important thing is to finish the races and stay calm. I feel very strong, even more so than last year, we lack a bit of acceleration, but Yamaha is working hard to give me some more horsepower. Anything can happen when you change circuits, in Qatar we were very strong and here instead we took a second. Now let's go to Jerez where both me, Vale and Cal were very strong. Let's see what will happen. I want to congratulate Marc, the youngest rider to win, he was a phenomenon. Then today It's an important day for me too because I got my 100th podium in the world championship. It seems like so little time has passed since the first time I got on the podium, when I won the Brazilian GP in 2003, and yet it happened 10 years ago."

Photos: Alex Farinelli