Jorge Lorenzo suffered crushing disappointment after he crashed out of Sunday’s race at the Australian Grand Prix on the first corner. The Fiat Yamaha man suffered an unfortunate collision with Ducati’s Nicky Hayden which left him without a front brake. The incident left the race wide open for a spectacular battle between native Casey Stoner and Lorenzo’s team-mate Valentino Rossi, whose podium finish now puts him 38 championship points ahead of the Spaniard.
“My front brake broke and I couldn’t brake on the corner.” Lorenzo commented on the collision. “I had two options; to go straight or try to take the corner. I tried to take the corner but I didn’t have a brake and the rear tyre didn’t stay so I crashed.”
Not one to let disappointment get the better of him, Jorge saw the positive side, “The thing that’s most important to me is my health, but now I’m a little less healthy!”
Hayden currently holds the lap record for the track with a time of 1:30.059 but finished the race in fifteenth place and a lap behind the rest of the grid after being clipped by Lorenzo on the first corner
A return to form for Casey Stoner saw him continue his string of wins on his home circuit after a fierce battle with Rossi, who tailed him throughout the race. The Aussie has made an amazing comeback after his time off, and with his win this weekend snatched third place in the championship from Dani Pedrosa, who had a lonely but consistent race for the third podium spot.
Stoner started the race from pole – his first since Qatar at the beginning of the season – decked out in one-off Ducati livery sporting an Australian flag colour scheme in acknowledgement of his 50,000 strong home crowd.
A surprising victor was Honda’s Alex De Angelis, who finished the race in fourth. The San Marino man hopes his solid position this weekend will help him secure a ride for the 2010 season, especially after the incident at Misano earlier this year in which he knocked out Americans Colin Edwards and Nicky Hayden. Commenting on the result he said “Obviously it’s good to achieve this result at the moment as I am still waiting to sign a contract for next year.
Brit James Toseland almost had history repeat itself after receiving a ride-through penalty for a jumpstart at the beginning of the race. The Yamaha rider was disqualified at Laguna Seca in July after ignoring a ride-through penalty, and looked set to do the same this weekend. Toseland, however, took his penalty and finished the race in fourteenth.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment