Lorenzo hails his best performance yet

Defending world champion Jorge Lorenzo said his fifth placed finish in today’s Dutch MotoGP the day after he underwent an operation on a broken collarbone was better than any of his numerous victories.

The 26-year-old Spaniard – who was passed fit to ride only hours before the race – also saw his gamble pay off because he finished just one place behind championship leader Dani Pedrosa.

Pedrosa, who has yet to win a MotoGP world title, extended his lead by only two points to nine over Lorenzo in a race won by the latter’s Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi, ending a winless run of nearly three years for the Italian.

Lorenzo, who underwent the operation early on Friday morning in Barcelona after breaking the collarbone in rain-hit practice on Thursday, was delighted with the way things had turned out.

“This fifth position is better than any victory I have had in my career,” said Lorenzo, who also won the world title in 2010.

“It would have been impossible to believe some minutes after my crash that this could happen.

“We made the race today and I was very brave in the first laps because passing the riders with a collarbone like this under braking was really hard.

“I felt quite good physically at the beginning of the race but after lap seven every lap was worse; it was more difficult to change direction, to brake and to accelerate so I couldn’t do more than fifth position.

“We only lost two points to Dani who is leading the Championship. I hope to have a good recovery for Germany (July 14), I will not be 100 percent but I hope to be better than here.”

Rossi, who took his total wins in 500cc/MotoGP races to 80 since he won his first in 2000 and to 106 in all categories since his maiden win in the 125cc in the 1996 Czech Republic Grand Prix, had no doubts who should take the plaudits.

“For me he is the hero of the day,” said Rossi.

“When he told me he was going to ride, I thought there was no way he could.

“Two days after a terrible accident and such an operation is amazing.”

Lorenzo, who started from 12th on the grid based on his fastest time in practice before he crashed, said that he was delighted for 34-year-old Rossi, who went through a nightmare two year spell with Ducati where nothing went right after leaving Yamaha at the end of 2010 before rejoining them for this campaign.

“I am happy for Valentino, more than two years without winning has been hard for him so I’m happy for my box partner,” said Lorenzo.

“After Aragon I think he made some improvements and here he took profit from the opportunity.

“Let’s see what happens in Sachsenring (the German MotoGP) as last year we had some issues and the Hondas were strong but I think if I can improve my physical condition I can be more competitive than this race.”