Valencia MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo ecstatic with ninth win

Jorge Lorenzo showed why he will be the man to beat in 2011 after he ended a fantastic season with an emphatic victory in Valencia yesterday.

The new world champion battled his way back from seventh in the early stages to comfortably defeat Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi and Ducati rival Casey Stoner.

Having somehow managed to stay on board his factory YZR-M1 after an early collision with Marco Simoncelli at the final corner, Lorenzo carved his way through the field to claim his ninth win of the season.

He broke Rossi’s points record in the process, his finally tally of 383 beating the Italian’s previous best by ten points.

The 23-year-old, who had won the previous week in Estoril too, said: “Before Portugal I was very convinced to try for a win there because it’s one of my favourite tracks.

“But coming here to Valencia, I tried to be convinced, but I remembered the past and it was really difficult to convince myself to try for a victory.

“But in practice I was fast from the beginning and I set a good pace. Casey seemed to be a little bit faster and more constant, but the race is very long and I made a good start.

“But in the second corner trying to pass Casey from the inside I couldn’t do it, so a few riders passed me.

“The fight with Marco was difficult and in the last corner I lost a lot of positions. But I kept trying. I was concentrated and little by little, lap-by-lap, I was recovering and finally I could take the win.”

Lorenzo though admitted he thought his hopes of breaking Rossi’s points record had evaporated when he collided with Simoncelli’s San Carlo Gresini Honda machine on the third lap.

He added: “I was proud to get this record because I demonstrated a lot of consistency. To be honest, in the corner where I touched with Simoncelli and I was almost crashed, I thought I’m eighth, I won’t make the record points. But I kept patient, won the race and made it.”

For full coverage of the final round of the season, see this week’s edition of MCN, available on November 10.