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2011 MotoGP Jerez preview— Stoner, Lorenzo, Rossi, and Spies talk

A preview of the upcoming 2011 Jerez MotoGP, with Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo, Valentino Rossi, and Ben Spies giving their view on their championship campaigns so far“The championship doesn’t start until it gets to Europe� was one of the most oft-repeated in the Qatar paddock, but with the impressive first race of Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner and the rest of the Hondas in the season-opener, the championship is already well underway.

Stoner was the fastest rider all weekend, culminating in a dominant performance in the race, especially the second half. It was then that the combination of a lighter fuel load and worn tires put Stoner in the comfort zone he needed to set a new lap record and pull away to victory over Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa, his Repsol Honda teammate who lost power in his right arm late in the race.

Now the championship moves to Jerez de la Frontera for the first of four races in Spain. The second round of the championship is one of the highlights of the MotoGP calendar, with the biggest crowds of the season greeting the riders on the return to their European bases. Stoner hasn’t done well in Jerez—his sole podium, a third, came in 2009—but with his confidence up and the upgraded RC212V as his weapon of choice, he’s eager to get back on track.

“Yeah, well Jerez has not been one of my best tracks in the past,� he said. “We’ve been fast there sometimes, but struggled a little bit in general at that circuit. I’m actually looking forward to going there this year. I think last year I did everything I could in that race and we were struggling a lot with the front, but I came strong in the end. Jorge (Lorenzo) had a fantastic race last year,� he said of the Yamaha rider who narrowly held off Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi. “Dani (Pedrosa) was very fast with a bike that he was struggling with a little bit at that time of the season. And we’re going there against two very competitive people and I think we can expect others there as well. So we have to keep our feet on the ground and try and do the best job we can at a strange circuit for me.�

At the moment the Hondas have a clear edge in acceleration and top speed. It was made acutely aware to Yamaha’s Lorenzo and Ben Spies on the kilometer-plus front straight in Qatar.

“Yes, Jerez is a more short track with less straight, so maybe there we can be more comfortable, but maybe we have to see what happens,� Lorenzo said. Asked if the problem in Qatar was top speed or acceleration, Lorenzo said, “It’s the straight. The straight today has been really big problem for us because was impossible to keep the stream, the slipstream, very, very good.� Though Jerez doesn’t have a lot of straight, it does have a lot of hard accelerating corner exits, “so we have to wait the Jerez grand prix.�

Jerez was also a mixed bag for the Ducatis, according to Valentino Rossi. He felt the track might be less demanding on his shoulder, and therefore easier, and “although it is not a fantastic track for Ducati, I like it a lot,� he said.

Spies is among those who buys into the season starting over theory. “I mean, it’s almost like the first race again,� and he probably wishes it was. Spies finished sixth in his debut as a factory Yamaha rider in Qatar. “You get to Europe and it’s a completely different atmosphere there. It’s a track we like. It’s an awesome event.

“We need to improve some stuff. Certainly we need to sort out what was wrong with my starts this week. I can’t start like that every week. I got a lot of work to do, but we got an awesome team here, we really do. My guys have worked. I’ve been in the back all week and they’ve just worked as hard as I’ve ever seen them, so I’m really lucky to have a good group. It’s just one race, a lot of races to go. Shake this one off, learn from it and try to keep moving forward.�

The priority for Spies is that in “every race we need to be in the top and battling for the podium. We were just outside the top five today. Wasn’t a bad race. Not having a bunch of smiles after the race, but it’s not a disaster. But it could’ve been worse. We just learned what we can and go to the next race. For the first race of the year it wasn’t a disaster. It wasn’t a miracle, but we were…I mean we got 17 more of these things.�




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