Lorenzo boss: ‘Jorge will never give up’

Jorge Lorenzo’s factory Yamaha boss Wilco Zeelenberg says the Spaniard will never give up fighting to retain the MotoGP world title until it is mathematically impossible to defeat Honda rival Casey Stoner.

Lorenzo heads to this weekend’s Indianapolis round in America trailing Stoner by 32-points after a wrong front tyre choice in Brno recently left him a frustrating fourth position.

Only seven races remain on the calendar but Zeelenberg said Lorenzo’s fighting spirit would see him continue to try and recover the deficit to Repsol Honda rider Stoner.

Zeelenberg told MCN: “His mentality is always quite strong and he will not give up. If Casey is 26-points in front going to Valencia then he will give up, but he would still want to win that last round. Yamaha didn’t give up also and they are still continuing to work on the 800 and that’s a good sign because even in the financial crisis they want to finish off this season well.”

It was evident at the post race test in Brno earlier this month of Yamaha’s determination to win a fourth consecutive MotoGP title.

It rolled out a revised YZR-M1 engine, electronics, chassis and fairing for Lorenzo to try at Brno, even though some felt investment on development for the current bike would be significantly reduced and funds and manpower moved to focus on Yamaha’s new 1000cc project.

Lorenzo and team-mate Ben Spies will use the updated engine spec in Indianapolis this weekend while the electronics and new bodywork are also expected to be used.
Zeelenberg added: “We tried to increase the power in all areas but if it is a couple of horsepower then the rider won’t say it is a huge jump, but they are satisfied and it is the spec we will use for the future. The engine has better acceleration and a little bit more top speed. On the data it is quite clear we have a bit more speed and that is important compared to what we had. We have a different fairing for better agility but no really big step. We will continue with it.”