Yamaha Secure Manufacturers Title As Rider Battle Heats Up
- Oct 19, 2015
- 2 min read
Jorge Lorenzo's title challenge was revived in Phillip Island after scoring a second place finish to steal seven points back from his team-mate. Lorenzo's second pushed Yamaha's gap to Honda in the manufacturers standings to fifty-two points, thus giving them their thirty-seventh manufacturers title.
The Spaniard looked set to win, but a last-lap charge from Honda's Marc Marquez saw the Yamaha rider demoted to second. Luckily for Lorenzo, Valentino Rossi crossed the line fourth after failing to make a pass on Andrea Iannone stick at MG corner on the final lap. The gap between the pair now stands at eleven points with just fifty left up for grabs.
Rossi can lift the title in Sepang if he wins the race and Lorenzo finishes sixth or lower, which will definitely have added pressure to the Spaniard as one mistake could spell the end of his hopes of a fifth crown.
Lorenzo:
“I think this was the most exciting race of the season and for sure one of the best in the last few years. To have four of the fastest riders fighting for victory in all the corners for the whole race is unbelievable. To be honest, I didn't expect that Andrea and Valentino would be able to stay with us. I also expected Marc to be stronger than me, but in the race I saw that he had some problems in some corners and so when I passed him again I tried to push to the limit and create and advantage, but it wasn't enough. In the slow corners I lost out a little bit, because my front tyre's life was going down, so I couldn't lean in completely, so he was able to recover a lot of time in these corners. I didn't want to crash in the last braking zone and that's probably why Marc was able to brake later and take the victory. It's a really good feeling to close in on Valentino in the championship. The bike was working really well and we did a good job throughout the whole weekend. It was just a pity that this front tyre on the bike was struggling a little bit, but we are a step closer the championship. It could have been more but it also could have been less, but it's enough. At some point you have to be happy, look ahead to continue delivering this good work during the last two races.”
Rossi:
“Today the results could have been better, but this is OK too. It could have been better if I would have been able to overtake Iannone in the last lap and it was a shame I wasn't able to stay on the podium. I had a good pace and good speed during the race, so arriving in fourth place is a pity, but it was still a good race. We already said that race results was going to be important ten rounds ago, but now it's really important and it will be very tough until the last race.”
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