Lorenzo Wins on Dry Tyres after Two-Day Deluge

The inability to test slick tyres before the race did not prevent heir apparent to the MotoGP crown, Jorge Lorenzo from reasserting his dominance of the 2010 Championship following a run of victories for Casey Stoner, who lost the rear wheel of his Ducati in the final bend of lap five. Lorenzo comfortably beat his teammate Valentino Rossi to claim the Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril, both riders using the medium front and rear Bridgestone slicks.

After two days of torrential rain and high winds, race day provided the first dry running of the weekend following a brief downpour in the morning before the warm-up session. By the race start the track was dry, helped by the wind and sun. Every rider used the softer option rear slick tyre, which incorporates extra soft compound rubber in its left shoulder, but front tyre choices were more mixed with six riders choosing the softer option and the rest of the field favouring the greater stability of the harder option. Teams relied on setup data from previous years; seven of the top eight riders used the harder option front and softer option rear, with fifth-placed Nicky Hayden the top rider to have chosen the softer front.

Behind Lorenzo and second-placed Valentino Rossi, the battle for third was very close between Andrea Dovizioso, Marco Simoncelli and Hayden. Having traded places throughout the closing laps, rookie Simoncelli came within just 0.06 seconds of his maiden MotoGP podium after he was passed by Dovizioso just before the finish line.

Hiroshi Yasukawa, director, Bridgestone Motorsport: “Congratulations today to Jorge and the Fiat Yamaha Team for their remarkable eighth victory this season and for sealing the Constructors’ title. It was a very tough weekend for all the riders because of the weather but we were able to see some very exciting battles which is important to us. We invited many guests including top management from Europe as MotoGP is a very good business tool for our company, and has a strong impact and image with spectators. We are proud to be a part of this and to use it to showcase our technology and communicate our passion for excellence to a worldwide audience.”

Tohru Ubukata, manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department: “Today was a very difficult race for everyone. The circuit was very slippery at the start because there had been no dry running all weekend. Track conditions were very bad and the teams had no time to set their bikes up in the dry, both of which mean a very hard situation for tyres, but still our slick tyres worked well from start to finish so I am very happy. I am also satisfied with our compound choice because we had no problems with warm-up even in these damp conditions.”

Lorenzo concluded: “It was very tough for everyone and a very complicated race as we didn’t practice in the dry. We started without any feeling on the slicks but we used the same setting from last year here. I saw from the warm-up lap that there were patches of water in some corners so I was very careful not to make any mistakes. Valentino had good pace and was going, but I was patient and could improve my lap times little by little and he was a little slower so I could catch him and pull away. It’s a lot of time that I didn’t get a victory so this is nice.”