Brno MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo concedes title race is over

Dejected Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo conceded his 2009 MotoGP title aspirations were all but over after he made another costly mistake in yesterday’s Czech Republic GP in Brno.

Desperate to try and keep Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi at bay after he’d passed the Italian at the third corner on lap 17, Lorenzo lost the front-end of his YZR-M1 at the same corner just a lap later.

It was the second race in succession that the 22-year-old has crashed out of the lead and he now trails Rossi by a massive 50-points with only six races remaining.

Lorenzo admitted his third DNF of the season had all but killed off his world title hopes as he again lost out in another close scrap with Rossi.

Lorenzo had brilliantly chased down Rossi to pass him on lap 17, but anxious to make an immediate breakaway he made a crucial braking error.

Under severe pressure of a counter attack from Rossi, Lorenzo braked 15 metres later at Turn 3, ran wide and lost the front of his YZR-M1.

And if surrendering his MotoGP world title hopes wasn’t bad enough, Lorenzo’s Dainese e D-Air Racing suit deployed but didn’t deflate.

So even if his YZR-M1 was undamaged, it was unlikely he could have raced on with the suit not deflating within the normal ten seconds.

Lorenzo said: “It’s over now. It is going to take something crazy for him not to win it. For sure the title is his.”

Lorenzo was even more frustrated because he failed to convert practice domination into a positive result and he said: “I got a bad start and had t o get by some people, and then I just didn’t have the same pace that I’d had all weekend.

“I was slower than in the practices and it really wasn’t what I was expecting. I expected the race to be much easier and I expected to be much faster.

“Unfortunately for me Valentino was just as strong as he’d been all weekend and I had to push very, very hard to stay with him.

“Towards the end I began to close the gap and after I passed him I was doing everything to stay in front, but then I made a mistake and crashed.

“There’s nothing more I can say except that I’m so sorry to the team and to Yamaha. I wanted to stay in front of him at that corner to try and make a break.

“But he was braking unbelievably late, so I tried to stay ahead but ran wide and lost the front.

“Second wasn’t going to be a good result, so I decided to go for it.”