MotoGP - 2010 - Silverstone - pre-race interview

Lorenzo taking it one race at a time

Thursday, 17 June 2010

Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa, Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo, Marco Melandri and Paul Denning all discussed the forthcoming AirAsia British Grand Prix at the official press conference on Thursday.

Jorge Lorenzo may have arrived at Silverstone for the AirAsia British Grand Prix with a 25-point lead over Dani Pedrosa in the Championship standings, but the Fiat Yamaha rider was quick to point out during the pre-event press conference that the title is not something he is thinking about at this point in the season.

"For me it's better not to think about the Championship and focus more on enjoying each race and improving my riding, because we know there are improvements to be made," explained Lorenzo.

With Valentino Rossi missing from the MotoGP grid this weekend following his Mugello practice crash, Lorenzo will be the sole Fiat Yamaha rider on track this weekend at Silverstone, a track that is new to all the riders.

"I like to do a lot of laps in practice, which will help with learning the circuit, but we won't be taking any risks tomorrow, as the track looks a little dirty at the moment,” he explained. “The track will clean up with each session, so the fast lap times will only come on Saturday. From a quick look around the circuit on a scooter the track looks very long and very wide, with lots of different types of tarmac, but I guess we'll only see how it feels on the bike tomorrow during free practice."

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) proved with a flag-to-flag victory in Mugello that he has the form to be a contender for the win here in Silverstone, while his RC212V has already displayed something of a speed advantage over the opposition at some of the faster tracks this season.

"The last race was good for us," declared Pedrosa. "With the bike we are improving little by little and we've had two good and two bad results so far this season. Hopefully this weekend will be another good one. This is a long track, without the short cut back to the pits that we had in Mugello, so it will be important to make the most of each lap during practice and qualifying."

A revitalised Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini) will be looking to carry the momentum from Mugello into this weekend's race at Silverstone. The Italian, who is currently lying seventh in the Championship standings, seemed to find a set-up that suited his very precise riding style last time out at his home race as he took fifth.

"The bike was certainly better in Mugello, but I'm still not 100% happy,” said Melandri. “There are still improvements to be made and I hope we can continue to make them here at Silverstone this weekend. The track looks amazing and I hope we will be able to put on a good race for the fans on Sunday."

Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro) placed fourth at Mugello, his best result so far in 2010 after a difficult start to the season, and will be keen to take his first podium of the season and make some headway in the standings.

"We didn't have the start to the season we wanted, but we thought we could be competitive at Mugello because it's a track we've gone well at before,” he said. “To arrive there and have problems like we did was a real shock to the system."

Stoner is one of the few MotoGP riders to have raced at Silverstone before having contested the British 125cc Championship at Silverstone in 2001 and 2002, but he expects that to be of little help on the redeveloped circuit.

"I raced here nine years ago, but I think that there are only four corners still in use from that time with the new track layout. I certainly don't think that counts as circuit knowledge, so it definitely won't give me any sort of advantage this weekend,” he added.

For Paul Denning, Team Manager of the UK based Rizla Suzuki team, the weekend is a big one indeed. He stated: "We made some big steps with the bike over the winter, but then we had some issues at the start of the season with Loris' confidence in the bike and also with Álvaro's injury. Where we are right now obviously stinks, but when the riders are both fully fit and confident then I think we can be up there. I'm not saying we're suddenly going to start challenging Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa at the front, but the potential for much better results is definitely there."