MotoGP – Lorenzo talks about Rossi, Pedrosa, Stoner and his GP debut

On the covers of the sector's weekly magazines in Spain. Highly sought after for interviews by international media. Jorge Lorenzo is, in all likelihood, the rider of the moment. Pole and second place on his MotoGP debut, beating his team-mate (but with different tyres) Valentino Rossi in every possible comparison. Enough to make comparisons with past champions or to see him as one of the candidates for victory in 10 days in Jerez, a track historically favorable to "his" Michelins. “Porfuera” spoke about this in an interesting interview given to the Iberian weekly Motorcycling of which we report the most significant passages, where he also expressed his thoughts on his rivals: from Casey Stoner to Valentino Rossi, without neglecting Daniel Pedrosa and the controversy of recent days for the "denied" handshake after the race at Losail...

The debut: “It was a great race. Coming second on debut is great, we knew in the last tests that we could be competitive, but not that we could take second place straight away. I didn't expect to immediately be able to fight so easily with the more experienced riders: finding myself dueling with them was nice, if there were any doubts about the performance in the race there are no longer any, we are sure if we are in the right conditions to be able to fight with the best. In any case, we keep our feet on the ground, we look race by race, we don't think too much about it. We haven't set ourselves any objectives: in Losail it went well, in Jerez it could go differently, on the other hand it's my debut and everything is new for me. In any case, the first laps were incredible, because I was fighting with Stoner and Pedrosa, in practice it was a repeat of the 2003 Brazilian GP in the 125cc...".

Valentino Rossi: “The relationship with him is good. We don't have much time to talk in the pits, after all there is a wall that divides us... But when we meet in the paddock we say hello and if there's a chance we talk and exchange a few jokes. He remains the reference of the category, it doesn't matter if he hasn't won the title in the last two years, he is always the rider to beat".

The Michelin/Bridgestone comparison: “I think there is a good balance, but I am equally convinced that there are circuits where the Michelins will be favoured, others where the Bridgestone will be the protagonist. At Losail we were ahead, but in the end Stoner won... I can't make comparisons with Valentino, there is a wall that divides us so it's difficult to think about what happens over there. Does the Yamaha test team try Bridgestone tyres? It doesn't worry me, I don't think it's crucial in the development of a motorcycle. Yes, it could be an advantage for Valentino, on the other hand Yamaha rightly dedicates itself more to him at the moment, but we do our job and we are convinced that we have the same possibilities to do well".

Casey Stoner: “He's a really difficult driver to beat. If he is in condition, he demonstrated it at Losail, he wins with ease. However, we believe that it is possible to beat him. He's a tough nut to crack, it will be difficult on the tracks that are favorable to him, but we'll try".

Daniel Pedrosa: “Yes, at Losail I expected a handshake, his congratulations on the result. There were no, ok, I don't want to cause controversy. I've had my say and I don't want to fuel any further discussions. If he gets a great result or manages to win in Jerez, I will certainly congratulate him. I'm not Pedrosa, I don't know his thoughts. In his place I would have said "Well done, good race", he didn't do it, that's fine. It was a bit strange because all the drivers, my mechanics and those of other teams and the journalists at Losail complimented me. Everyone except him. We have two different characters, but then not everyone thinks the same way.".

Alessio Piana