Bushiee46
10-03-2007, 15:14
Jorge Lorenzo kicked off his 250cc world title defence in the best manner possible as he took a comfortable victory the opening round of the season at Losail in Qatar.
The 19-year-old Spaniard started from pole position and, after losing the lead off the line start, took under a lap to re-claim the top spot from rookie Thomas Luthi, who made a demon getaway.
After that it was a simple case of building a buffer at two-thirds distance and then reeling off the laps to take the chequered flag for the second year in a row on his Fortuna Honda by 1.224 seconds from Alex de Angelis.
Lorenzo said: “With the number one [on my bike], I'm feeling good, but I don't see the number when I ride so I have to push a lot like last year.
“In the race I pushed a lot from the first lap to the end and so I won again. I'm very happy for me and my team.”
De Angelis' second place was hard-fought as the Aspar Aprilia rider got swamped at the start and then suffered from his bike being heavy on fuel.
But as the fuel load came down, so too did his lap times and he scythed past Andrea Dovizioso's Humangest Honda and Luthi's Caffe Latte on lap 13.
Next up was Hector Barbera, who fell victim to de Angelis on the next lap.
Try as he might though, he could not close in on Lorenzo enough to mount a challenge for the lead and settled instead for the runner-up spot from Barbera and Luthi on their Toth Racing and Caffe Latte Aprilias.
Luthi, it must be said, was hugely impressive on what was his first race on a 250cc bike after graduating from 125s where he was the 2005 world champion.
Fifth was Dovizioso on the best of the Hondas, and he and team-mate Yuki Takahashi sandwiched Roberto Locatelli's Scuderia Metis Gilera.
Eighth was another rookie Julian Simon – two places ahead of his more experienced Repsol Honda team-mate Shuhei Aoyama. Marco Simoncelli was between the pair on his Gilera, and Irishman Eugene Laverty was 18th for LCR Honda.
Hiroshi Aoyama was lucky to emerge unscathed when he high-sided on lap three while lying eighth and was momentarily trapped under his bike, and his KTM team-mate Mika Kallio also failed to finish on what was his 250cc debut when his bike slowed with a technical problem two laps from the flag while he lay seventh.
And Alvaro Bautista – the man who beat Kallio to last year's 125cc world title – also had a disappointing start to his career in the quarter-litre class after he slid off his Aspar Aprilia on lap four.
1 J. Lorenzo (ESP) Spain's No1 00:00.000
2 A. De Angelis (SMR) Aprilia 00:01.124
3 H. Barbera (ESP) Aprilia 00:02.911
4 T. Lüthi (SUI) Honda 00:03.234
5 A. Dovizioso (ITA) Honda 00:12.698
6 R. Locatelli (ITA) Gilera 00:21.568
7 Y. Takahashi (JPN) Honda 00:31.540
8 J. Simon (ESP) Honda 00:40.467
9 M. Simoncelli (ITA) Gilera 00:46.192
10 S. Aoyama (JPN) Honda 00:58.678
11 A. Espargaro (ESP) Blusens Aprilia 01:02.762
12 F. Lai (ITA) Aprilia 01:07.715
13 A. West (AUS) Team Sicilia 01:10.622
14 R. Wilairot (THA) Thai Honda 01:11.594
15 D. Heidolf (GER) Honda 01:12.499
16 J. Cluzel (FRA) Honda 01:23.751
17 A. Baldolini (ITA) Honda 01:33.143
18 E. Laverty (IRL) Honda LCR 01:38.458
19 I. Toth (HUN) Aprilia 01:38.548
The 19-year-old Spaniard started from pole position and, after losing the lead off the line start, took under a lap to re-claim the top spot from rookie Thomas Luthi, who made a demon getaway.
After that it was a simple case of building a buffer at two-thirds distance and then reeling off the laps to take the chequered flag for the second year in a row on his Fortuna Honda by 1.224 seconds from Alex de Angelis.
Lorenzo said: “With the number one [on my bike], I'm feeling good, but I don't see the number when I ride so I have to push a lot like last year.
“In the race I pushed a lot from the first lap to the end and so I won again. I'm very happy for me and my team.”
De Angelis' second place was hard-fought as the Aspar Aprilia rider got swamped at the start and then suffered from his bike being heavy on fuel.
But as the fuel load came down, so too did his lap times and he scythed past Andrea Dovizioso's Humangest Honda and Luthi's Caffe Latte on lap 13.
Next up was Hector Barbera, who fell victim to de Angelis on the next lap.
Try as he might though, he could not close in on Lorenzo enough to mount a challenge for the lead and settled instead for the runner-up spot from Barbera and Luthi on their Toth Racing and Caffe Latte Aprilias.
Luthi, it must be said, was hugely impressive on what was his first race on a 250cc bike after graduating from 125s where he was the 2005 world champion.
Fifth was Dovizioso on the best of the Hondas, and he and team-mate Yuki Takahashi sandwiched Roberto Locatelli's Scuderia Metis Gilera.
Eighth was another rookie Julian Simon – two places ahead of his more experienced Repsol Honda team-mate Shuhei Aoyama. Marco Simoncelli was between the pair on his Gilera, and Irishman Eugene Laverty was 18th for LCR Honda.
Hiroshi Aoyama was lucky to emerge unscathed when he high-sided on lap three while lying eighth and was momentarily trapped under his bike, and his KTM team-mate Mika Kallio also failed to finish on what was his 250cc debut when his bike slowed with a technical problem two laps from the flag while he lay seventh.
And Alvaro Bautista – the man who beat Kallio to last year's 125cc world title – also had a disappointing start to his career in the quarter-litre class after he slid off his Aspar Aprilia on lap four.
1 J. Lorenzo (ESP) Spain's No1 00:00.000
2 A. De Angelis (SMR) Aprilia 00:01.124
3 H. Barbera (ESP) Aprilia 00:02.911
4 T. Lüthi (SUI) Honda 00:03.234
5 A. Dovizioso (ITA) Honda 00:12.698
6 R. Locatelli (ITA) Gilera 00:21.568
7 Y. Takahashi (JPN) Honda 00:31.540
8 J. Simon (ESP) Honda 00:40.467
9 M. Simoncelli (ITA) Gilera 00:46.192
10 S. Aoyama (JPN) Honda 00:58.678
11 A. Espargaro (ESP) Blusens Aprilia 01:02.762
12 F. Lai (ITA) Aprilia 01:07.715
13 A. West (AUS) Team Sicilia 01:10.622
14 R. Wilairot (THA) Thai Honda 01:11.594
15 D. Heidolf (GER) Honda 01:12.499
16 J. Cluzel (FRA) Honda 01:23.751
17 A. Baldolini (ITA) Honda 01:33.143
18 E. Laverty (IRL) Honda LCR 01:38.458
19 I. Toth (HUN) Aprilia 01:38.548