Reigning MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo has called upon control tyre supplier Michelin to improve the performance of their rear tyre after he suffered wheelspin in a straight line today in the Jerez race which, he says forced him to only use part throttle from the middle of the race.

As soon as Lorenzo rolled into parc ferme this afternoon, he began gesticulating about rear spin to Yamaha’s Wilco Zeelenberg before waving his arms around a lot. He said that from the middle of the race, after be began to catch Valentino Rossi, his M1 began to spin from third gear to sixth on the straights and he had to back off to 80 per cent throttle.

“Rossi was faster in the middle of the race and I was losing little by little some metres and the rear tyre started to spin. I started to spin on the straight, but not so much, and then I start to recover quickly some metres with Rossi, but suddenly the rear started to spin the two straights so much in the centre – it never happened this to me in MotoGP, so I have to slow down and be 80 per cent on the throttle on the straights in every gear,” said Lorenzo, speaking at the track.

“I couldn’t keep the same dynamic to catch him and fight for the win. Is a pity as Marc had more problems than us and we couldn’t take profit to win the race. If we see the championship, Rossi crashed in Austin so he was 12 behind, now he is seven, and we recovered four points with Marc, so for the championship this is good, but frustrated with this problem on the straight with the rear tyre.

“In the next races if I am in first row, if I can say in first position I will ride a little bit better, but it wasn’t very comfortable today with hot temperatures and with the tyres, the front and the rear, I was not as fast as Rossi. Finally, when I was catching him, happened this thing with the tyre, so the rear tyre didn’t give me the possibility to fight for the win when I was coming stronger at the end of the race.

“I hope that in the next races we will not have problems with the rear: I’m happy with the front because the front is safer and much better, but after problems of Baz and Redding Michelin need to get this experience to improve now the rear.”

Rossi also suffered the same problem as his team-mate: “I have a lot of spin in the straight, and this is very strange. I happen also yesterday in the practice, I feel a little bit. Today more, so in the last ten or 12 laps, I spin very much, especially on the front straight and I slow down as I start to be worried the tyre become too hot and make vibration.

“So I go on the straight with half-throttle so I don’t spin. But the good thing is the bike and the tyres work well in the corners so I can stay on 1’40.8, 1’40.9 and I understand that was enough.”

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