Aragon MotoGP: Top speed blunts Jorge Lorenzo’s challenge

Yamaha’s top speed deficit left Jorge Lorenzo hoping that the Japanese factory will roll out a more powerful YZR-M1 motor at its forthcoming home race at the Twin Ring Motegi.

Lorenzo maintained his stunning record of qualifying on the front row of the grid in every race so far in 2010 with a lap of 1.49.251 securing him second place ahead of tomorrow’s 23-lap Motorland Aragon clash.

But Lorenzo’s factory Yamaha YZR-M1 was close to 6mph slower than Dani Pedrosa’s blistering fast Repsol Honda RC212V machine today.

The Spaniard was only 15th fastest through the speed traps with no Yamaha able to get into the top ten of speed charts.

The 23-year-old, who holds a commanding 63-point lead over Spanish rival Pedrosa, said he hoped a new more powerful engine would be available for the Japanese Grand Prix early next month.

He said: “It is not a problem on the main straight but in every acceleration you lose a lot of metres and it is difficult to stay with these guys. Maybe in Japan we have a new engine.

“It is not sure but maybe we will gain some horsepower. I hope so. We lose in more or less all the races a little bit of top speed, but especially here on this track. The straight comes from a corner in second gear, so maybe the acceleration doesn’t help us not to lose this speed.

“And it’s not only the acceleration, it’s every little straight that we lose out on acceleration. But hopefully we can gain a little of this gap in the braking and in the corner speed. This is what we have to do tomorrow to try and not lose so much on the straight and try to brake hard and not to lose so much speed in the middle of the corner.”

Lorenzo said Aussie Casey Stoner could pose a serious threat to his hopes of winning for a third time on home soil in 2010.

Having won in Jerez and Catalunya, Lorenzo is seeking an eighth win to stop Pedrosa’s excellent recent run of form.

Stoner has looked in his most menacing form since the early part of the season and he claimed pole position by 0.309s over Lorenzo.

Lorenzo added: “I see Casey very, very fast and faster than any race this season. For sure he will fight for a win tomorrow and for the moment in theory he and Dani are the riders who have more pace for the race.”