The Grand Prix of Great Britain at the Silverstone circuit came to a premature end today for both Yamaha Factory riders in a race played out under treacherous weather conditions. World Champion Jorge Lorenzo and team mate Ben Spies spent the weekend building a good race set up, qualifying strongly in the dry yesterday to start third and fourth on the grid respectively. Lorenzo started well, taking first position from the line but conceding quickly to Casey Stoner. As heavy rain drenched the Silverstone circuit, the Mallorcan began to close the gap to the front when a high side crash just after entering a corner too fast saw his M1 too damaged to continue.
Spies also fell victim to the adverse track conditions. Having dropped initially to fifth he fell going into turn one, crossing the gravel and hitting the wall. The American rider was taken directly to the medical centre for precautionary scans of his back and neck and was thankfully given the all clear after the check up.
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Jorge Lorenzo - Position DNF
“I feel disappointed because the crash was my own mistake. It’s a shame for the team because they did a very good job all weekend and also my Fan Club who come here to support me. I was riding with confidence, but I had to wait my moment to overtake Andrea. I think I could have fought for the victory with Casey. I wasn’t worried that Simoncelli was catching me; I was worried because Casey was going if I didn’t overtake Andrea… then I crashed! Before Casey was chasing me, like a greyhound with a hare but now the situation has reversed. Now we have to go for the victory in Assen! I want to say congratulations to Colin; it has been a good weekend for him. He deserves it after last week”.
Ben Spies - Position DNF
“I’m so disappointed to finish like this after we worked so hard to be ready for the race. It’s been a challenging weekend for all the guys with the different weather changes but we wea hare ready to race with a really good package. The track was really wet, when I hit the brakes going into turn one the front just dropped away and I hit the wall before I knew it. I hit my back pretty badly, my back protector is really busted up, but it did its job. I’m really sore and will probably need a big cushion for a few days but I’m happy it wasn’t worse. We’ll take a few days to relax and recover then come back fighting at Assen.”
Wilco Zeelenberg - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager
“Conditions today were very difficult, Jorge had not much grip in the rear for the first three laps. After five or six laps it improved a little bit so he got up close to Dovizioso to try and make an overtake. Unfortunately he lost the rear and went over the handlebars, ending his race. It’s not the best result, my first DNF with the team and Jorge’s first for 25 races. We were leading the Championship, we’re now 18 points behind but everything is still open. There are 12 races still to go so let’s go to Assen and see what we can do.”
Massimo Meregalli - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director
This was not the results we were expecting today. Both Ben and Jorge and their crews have worked extremely hard all weekend to find both wet and dry competitive set ups, resulting in a good qualifying and giving us confidence for the race. Unfortunately the difficult racing conditions led to both riders falling and being unable to continue. Jorge was able to return directly to his garage uninjured however due to the severity of Ben’s crash he was first taken to the medical centre for essential checks to his back and neck. Finally he has been given the all clear so despite the two DNFs we are relieved to be able to leave Silverstone with both Jorge and Ben uninjured. We will put this weekend behind us and head to Assen in two weeks time determined to continue our form from Barcelona.”
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