Yamaha's Lorenzo Retains Unbroken Podium Record at Estoril 06.05.2012: MOTOGP PORTUGAL - ROUND 3 Estoril Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jorge Lorenzo continued his unbroken podium record at Estoril today. Starting

MOTOGP PORTUGAL - ROUND 3 Estoril

Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jorge Lorenzo continued his unbroken podium record at Estoril today. Starting from fourth on the grid he was quickly into second at the first corner and held the position to the line after a determined effort to stay with race leader Casey Stoner.


The Mallorcan's legendary consistent lap pace meant Stoner was never more than one second ahead until the final lap and at times just 0.2 seconds in front. Lap three of the race saw Lorenzo deliver a new fastest lap record for Estoril of 1'36.909. He now heads to Le Mans in two weeks time just one point adrift of the Championship lead.

 
Team mate Ben Spies started well from fifth, slotting into fourth in the first corner before running wide and dropping back several places. The Texan made a couple of mistakes and dropped to ninth where he battled Stephan Bradl for eighth, eventually passing the German to take the position at the line. Spies will arrive in Le Mans in 11th position with 18 points.
 

Jorge Lorenzo
Position 2nd - Time: +1.421

“I’m happy with this second position because I was expecting to fight for third or fourth and not the victory. The bike improved a lot from the practices so it was possible. I had two problems, at the start I used a lot of clutch and burnt it so for two or three laps it was burning and I lost a lot of distance from Casey.


Also at the end Casey was very strong. After this everything was working well and I made a fastest lap, which is not very common for me. We are just one point behind Casey, hopefully we can improve something on the bike tomorrow and be in front again.”
       

 
Ben Spies
Position 8th - Time: +33.262


“Very mixed emotions today, this is actually the first time in three years that I’ve finished a race here. As I told the team, I made four or five big mistakes during the race, they cost me time and places. It was a rough race but I’m continuing to build my confidence, I don’t enjoy Estoril so I’m happy to have finished.


Now we go to Le Mans which is a great event with an amazing crowd but another track I don’t love so much! I’m happy with the bike and it’s performance so we’ll continue to build my confidence and improve the results.”

 

Wilco Zeelenberg - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager

“A fantastic result after a very tough race weekend. Both Jorge and the bike got on very harmoniously in the race and he was able to push. We are only one point behind Casey and we’re consistently finishing on the podium which is important. We’ll test tomorrow to see what developments we can use to improve and see what happens in Le Mans in two weeks time.”
     


Massimo Meregalli - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director

“Ben had some difficulties during the race, he made a few mistakes, I think the first one put a lot of pressure on him so he was trying to push harder and was unable to. The most important thing is he got back his feeling and was quite satisfied with the set up which gives us good confidence for the coming races.


Tomorrow we will test some new items, let’s hope they give us some good results. Jorge did a really great job and pushed really hard. He never gave Casey room to breathe and he couldn’t do more than that. This is the right attitude to get the title.”



Determined Dovizioso claims best Yamaha result in Estoril


Andrea Dovizioso secured his best Yamaha result so far in today's Estoril MotoGP round, the Italian leading home Cal Crutchlow to help the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team celebrate a third consecutive double top five finish in 2012.


For the third race in a row in the new 1000cc MotoGP World Championship category, fans were thrilled by an exciting inter-team duel between Dovizioso and Crutchlow for fourth position.


The pair were barely split by more than just a couple of tenths throughout the 28-lap race, with British rider Crutchlow holding the early advantage going in search of his third straight fourth place finish.


But it was Dovizioso who prevailed with a display full of determination and skill once he seized fourth place from Crutchlow with a clinical overtake at the first corner on lap five.


Crutchlow shadowed the former 125cc World Champion for the remainder of the race but despite exerting intense pressure, Dovizioso rode a faultless race to ensure he finished top non-factory rider to collect 13 valuable World Championship points.


Today's result means Crutchlow remains in fourth place in the overall rankings on 37-points, with Dovizioso just two-points further back in fifth. Dovizioso and Crutchlow's brilliant consistency also helped the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team strengthen its positi on in third place in the Team World Championship standings heading to the squad's vital home race in Le Mans on May 20.
 


Andrea Dovizioso
Position 4th - Time: +13.846

“I am very satisfied with my performance in today's race and particularly with the pace I could run because I was very fast and consistent throughout. It is a good way to end the weekend because a few small problems on Friday and Saturday meant we could not work as much as we would have liked to improve the bike.


I am happy because the target this weekend was to reduce the gap to the fastest and we managed to achieve that. But the fact I could keep the speed for 28-laps that I was not able to find in practice is a very positive point. It is a good fourth place but there's no doubt starting from third on the grid hampered me at the beginning of the race because I couldn 't even try to stay with the leading group.


Maybe it would have been closer or maybe we could have even been with Pedrosa, but we will never know. Now I am looking forward to racing in Le Mans because it is the home race of the Tech 3 Team and it is also a raced sponsored by Monster Energy, so everybody has a lot of motivation to do well.”
       
 

Cal Crutchlow
Position 5th - Time: +16.690

“I'm pretty happy with fifth place but I would like to have been a bit closer to the top three like I was in Jerez. Fair play to Andrea because he rode a great race once he passed me early on and it didn't matter how much pressure I put on him, he never cracked. I certainly couldn't have done anything else to try and pass him but it is another top five finish and I am still fourth in the points.


I had a couple of issues, which didn't help me. I knew rear grip was going to be an issue in the race and that's how it turned out. I'm not really sure why so we will have to have a close look at the data to understand this. Stopping the bike was also a bit of a problem and it felt like I was having to push a lot harder than the four in front of me to run the times.


But it was a good race with Andrea and we have carried on the momentum from the first two races and now we can look forward to Le Mans. That's a massive weekend for Monster and Tech 3 Yamaha, so I'll be determined to be back fighting for the podium again.”

 

Herve Poncharal - Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team Manager

“That's three races now in 2012 that have been exciting but also nerve-wracking to watch as the manager of the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team. On one hand I want to see all the races like t his with Andrea and Cal battling inside the top five, but it is always tense when they are fighting so hard together.


But credit to both of them because they delivered another fantastic double result for Tech 3 and today confirmed how strong our line-up is in 2012 and how competitive the Yamaha YZR-M1 package is. I'm really happy for Andrea because I think a few times this season he has been quite unlucky but he needed to be riding at his best to keep Cal at bay today.


We knew that Cal was never going to give him a moment to relax but he dealt with that pressure extremely well. It was another great ride by Cal today and a measure of how far he has come to be battling again comfortably inside the top five. Clearly I think for the whole team it's very exciting to see us being so competitive.


We are fighting at the front in every session and every race and keeping Yamaha and our sponsors happy, which is vitally important. Now we look forward to our home race in France where we will arrive higher in the Championship than we have ever been going to Le Mans. We are excited and hoping to perform for the French fans as we have in the first three races.”
 



2012 MotoGP Portugal
Estoril 06/05/2012    28 Laps
   
race I


1    Casey Stoner    Honda    AUS    45'37.513
2    Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP    0'01.421
3    Daniel Pedrosa    Honda    ESP    0'03.621
4    Andrea Dovizioso Yamaha ITA    0'13.846
5    Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR    0'16.690
6    Alvaro Bautista    Honda    ESP    0'21.884
7    Valentino Rossi    Ducati    ITA    0'26.797
8    Ben Spies Yamaha USA    0'33.262
9    Stefan Bradl    Honda    GER    0'35.867
10    Hector Barbera    Ducati    ESP    0'53.363
11    Nicky Hayden    Ducati    USA    1'02.630
12    Aleix Espargaro    ART    ESP    1'20.736
13    Randy De Puniet    ART    FRA    1'23.483
14    Michele Pirro    FTR    ITA    1'37.905
15    Danilo Petrucci    Ioda    ITA    -1Laps



  MotoGP World Standing
Rider Standings    After Race 3 of 18
   
1.    Casey Stoner    Honda    AUS    66
2.    Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP    65
3.    Daniel Pedrosa    Honda    ESP    52
4.    Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR    37
5.    Andrea Dovizioso Yamaha ITA    35
6.    Alvaro Bautista    Honda    ESP    29
7.    Stefan Bradl    Honda    GER    24
8.    Nicky Hayden    Ducati    USA    23
9.    Valentino Rossi    Ducati    ITA    22
10.    Hector Barbera    Ducati    ESP    19
11.    Ben Spies Yamaha USA    18
12.    Aleix Espargaro    ART    ESP    9
13.    Randy De Puniet    ART    FRA    6
14.    Colin Edwards    Suter    USA    4
15.    Danilo Petrucci    Ioda    ITA    4
16.    Michele Pirro    FTR    ITA    2
   

     
 Circuit Length: 4182
Temp: 17
Weather: Dry
Lap Record: 1'36.909 (Jorge Lorenzo, 01/01/2012)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1'35.715 (Jorge Lorenzo, 13/04/2008)
Last Years Winner: Daniel Pedrosa



  Manufacturer Standings 06/05/2012

1    Honda    70
2    Yamaha  65
3    Ducati    27
4    ART    11
5    Suter    4
6    Ioda    4
7    FTR    2
8    BQR-FTR    2


  Team Standings 06/05/2012

1.    Repsol Honda Team    118
2.    Yamaha Factory Racing MotoGP Team 83
3.    Monster Yamaha Tech372
4.    Ducati Marlboro Team    45
5.    San Carlo Honda Gresini    31
6.    LCR Honda MotoGP    24
7.    Pramac Racing Team    19
7.    Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP    13
8.    Power Electronics Aspar    15
9.    NGM Mobile Forward Racing    4
10.    Came Ioda Racing Project    4
11.    Avintia Blusens    3


         
   
Yamaha Motor Europe- also photo