Assen MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo exuding confidence

Jorge Lorenzo reckons he’s confident he can claim a fourth MotoGP victory of the season tomorrow in the 80th running of the legendary Dutch TT in Holland.

Lorenzo preserved his 100 per cent front row starting record in 2010 with another commanding performance at Assen this afternoon.

Lorenzo, who will start tomorrow’s race with a healthy 37-point lead over Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso, stormed to his second successive pole position with a best time of 1.34.515. 

That beat Randy de Puniet on the LCR Honda RC212V by 0.282s and Lorenzo said: “It is perfect to always be in front or in second position. Here we got the best time in practice so I am very confident for the race but we all know that you have to repeat the performance from practice for the race.

“This is the most difficult thing. You always have a little more pressure so you must be quiet and patient. It will be very difficult because some riders have a good pace, especially Casey (Stoner) and Randy. We must see how Ben (Spies) and (Andrea) Dovizioso will go tomorrow too, but from my side I think we are in really good shape.

“We’ve been in first position in every practice, so lets try and take profit from this qualifying. It is possible to win and I will try. My fear is going slower in the race than in practice. If I can get the same pace and it is not a messy race then maybe I can win the race but it is not easy to get the same performance in the race.”

Lorenzo reckons he’s riding close to the best form of his career and added: “Fortunately every year I improve me riding. My level has grown every year and I have never had a worse performance than the previous year. Now to be better next year will be difficult because I am getting closer to the limit.”

Lorenzo has not yet finished below second place in the opening five races and has collected an impressive 115 out of 125 points up for grabs.

And he said rivals like de Puniet and Spies would be under much less pressure and scrutiny.

He said: “Ben and Randy and these guys don’t have any pressure for the championship so it is different for them. For Ben it is the first year, so he has no pressure and Randy is getting good results with his bike, so they are dangerous also like Casey and Andrea.”