Lorenzo grabs fantastic victory on last lap; Pedrosa sets lap record02/05/2010

Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Medium, Hard.  Rear: Soft, Medium  

Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo mounted a thrilling ride after slipping to fifth position to chase down fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa and snatch a fantastic victory on the last lap of the Spanish Grand Prix. Using the harder option Bridgestone slicks, in his charge Lorenzo set a new fastest total race time at Jerez.  

Leader for all bar the last lap, Repsol Honda’s Pedrosa couldn’t quite hold on to the lead he built early on as he made a break from the field, setting a new lap record in the process, but put up a strong fight against Lorenzo. In close pursuit was Valentino Rossi, finishing just 0.34seconds adrift on the final step of the podium. Rossi also lapped faster than his own previous lap record.  

Whilst the action at the front intensified, a great race-long battle was fought for seventh position as Mika Kallio, Marco Melandri, Randy de Puniet, Marco Simoncelli and Colin Edwards traded positions throughout. Loris Capirossi was in the thick of the action until his third lap crash, as was Ben Spies until his retirement on lap eight. Álvaro Bautista joined the fight in the latter stages with a strong ride to tenth position.  

With the high track temperature, as expected every rider used the hard compound front slicks for the race, and only Aleix Espargaro of the Pramac Racing team opted for the soft compound rear, the rest favouring the harder option.  

Hiroshi Yamada, Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Department said:
“I’d like to congratulate Jorge for his determination in fighting for this win in front of his home fans, and to Dani for his part in what was a very exciting climax in front of 122,000 fans. With Valentino in third, it was one of the closest podium finishes in the 800cc era. All in all, 2010 has got off to a great start and both races have provided a great show for the fans so I think we can look forward to a thrilling rest of the season.”  

Tohru Ubukata, Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department said:
“I can say that our slick tyres performed well today, with a new lap record indicating improved grip and a new fastest total race time showing good consistency and durability over race distance. Tyre performance is normally a trade-off between outright grip and durability, yet we can see from today that we have been able to improve both so I am happy. Dani set his new lap record on the second lap of the race but Jorge’s personal best came just three laps from the finish and was less than 0.3seconds slower than Dani’s so this is also a good sign of durability.”  

Jorge Lorenzo, Fiat Yamaha Team Race Winner said:
“For me today was the most beautiful race of my life. I made a bad start and struggled a lot – the biggest problem we have is that for the first ten laps we are slow. But in the middle of the race I started to catch Vale as we had a good pace. Today I just wanted to win so I rode at my maximum. I rode at the limit but had fun on the bike and this effort delivered me this present.”