Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jorge Lorenzo was back on the podium today, taking second place in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis.

Lorenzo, who was one of only two riders to take a gamble on the softer tyres for the race, dropped a couple of places from the start then worked to get behind his team mate Ben Spies in second. After the Texan’s unfortunate DNF he was promoted to second and began chasing down Pedrosa’s lead. Lacking the pace to stay with the leader he settled for second, taking 20 valuable Championship points.

Fellow Factory rider Spies was denied his chance to shine in front of his home crowd following an engine failure early in today’s race. After a strong weekend with impressive pace Spies made a superb start to today’s race, flying past pole man Dani Pedrosa to secure the lead on the second lap. Having then allowed Pedrosa past and tucked in behind disaster struck with an engine failure on lap six.

Jorge Lorenzo

"We thought that the soft tyre could finish the race well so we took a risk with it. At the beginning it wasn’t so bad and I could follow Ben and Dani. Then Ben had his engine failure, which was lucky for my position, but I am so sorry for him. Dani was a little step forward today and had a tyre advantage in the end. Anyway, second was the best we could do today which is very good for the Championship."

Ben Spies

"Today was unfortunate again. We had a big crash yesterday and I honestly didn’t know if I could ride at 100% today. I got a lot of sleep and great physio from the clinic guys who did an amazing job. We got off to a good start and felt great. When Dani passed me I could see he was using the rear tyre more than I was so the plan was to let him get a maximum three seconds ahead and start reeling him back in at the end. As soon as he passed me the bike started to slow down, I wasn’t sure what was happening then all of a sudden it blew up so I tried to get off the line as quickly as possible. I’m disappointed not just for me but for the team, I think we definitely had second place and possibly the win."

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