German MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo happy with safe second

Jorge Lorenzo decided to play safe and settle for an easy second place at the Sachsenring as he suffered a rare defeat in 2010.

The 23-year-old led the shortened 21-lap race until lap ten when Repsol Honda rival and closest title challenger Dani Pedrosa moved to the front.

Lorenzo was unable to muster a serious response and Pedrosa was able to cruise to a reasonably comfortable second win of the season.

Fiat Yamaha rider Lorenzo though maintained his impressive form and is still to finish lower than second this season as he easily prevented himself from coming under threat from Casey Stoner and returning team-mate Valentino Rossi.

Lorenzo only lost five-points in the title race and still holds a commanding 47-point advantage over compatriot Pedrosa as the paddock makes the dash across the Atlantic for this weekend’s American MotoGP at Laguna Seca.

Despite not being able to put more pressure on Pedrosa, Lorenzo was satisfied with his 20-point haul and said: “I am so happy with this second position, which is strange because normally I never want to lose. But the Sachsenring is one of the worst circuits for my riding style and I have never won here, so it is important to be on the podium when you are not so good. I want to win but sometimes you can’t. The problem is that Dani was much faster and to follow him I had to take so many risks. I decided to drop the pace and finish second and this is still a positive result.”
Lorenzo said the stoppage after Randy de Puniet, Aleix Espargaro and Alvaro Bautista all crashed heavily, had knocked him out of his stride and he added: “It’s always difficult when a race is split like this and I think I didn’t ride quite as well in the second race as I felt I had been doing in the first. Dani was very, very strong and I was on the limit trying to stay ahead. I had a few more problems with the tyres.”
Lorenzo will now bid to continue his golden run going in California this weekend. He produced a heroic performance at the spectacular Laguna Seca circuit a year ago after taking third just 24 hours after breaking a collarbone in a massive qualifying high-side.
Assessing his prospects as he prepared for the first of two visits to America in just over a month, the double world 250GP champion said: “It is a very special track and very famous but I had a big crash last year in qualifying and broke my collarbone. But I made a great race and I will try and win there because I’ve never done it before. Laguna is a track where I struggle, but not as much as here.”