By Matt Roberts BBC Sport at Jerez |
  Lorenzo has yet to master the art of walking on water |
Jorge Lorenzo showed that his comic timing is every bit as good as his race craft on Sunday with a Peter Kay-style bit of 'top bombing' into the Jerez circuit lake to celebrate his "dream win" in the Grand Prix of Spain. However, the Fiat Yamaha rider admitted afterwards that "the dream almost turned into a nightmare" as his leathers soaked up the water, gaining an extra 20 kilos in weight and pulling him to the bottom. "I almost drowned!" he gasped in the post-race press conference. "I was so tired. I knew that it would be hard to swim with my leathers on but it took me three minutes to swim about three or four metres!" The madcap Mallorcan also reckoned he saw a fish swim past him whilst underwater before a fan hauled him out, when he was ushered to safety by a family of ducks! Truly quackers.
There was nothing spontaneous about his win, though, with Lorenzo demonstrating a new-found level of maturity as he patiently chased down the leaders from fifth place following a bad start. One year on from a needless crash at the same track when chasing Casey Stoner for third, and two years since he and Dani Pedrosa were forced into a reluctant handshake by the King of Spain on the podium, Lorenzo chose the week he turned 23 to demonstrate that he has come of age. And credit, too, to Pedrosa, who waited patiently for a sodden Lorenzo to finish soaking up the applause in the winners' enclosure before offering a hand of congratulation to his compatriot and sworn rival, which Lorenzo met with a soggy embrace.
Meanwhile Casey Stoner was left to cool off in the garage after struggling to fifth place behind Nicky Hayden - the first time he has finished a race behind his Ducati team-mate.  Stoner was left with plenty to think about by his display on Sunday |
In fact, this was only the fourth time in his MotoGP career that the 2007 world champion has trailed any team-mate at the chequered flag. The last time was at Le Mans in 2008, when he suffered engine problems and limped over the line behind Marco Melandri. The other two were a fifth place at Germany in 2007, when Loris Capirossi finished second, and a safe ride to sixth at Motegi that same season, when he claimed the world title and his Italian colleague won the race. Stoner revealed that the front-end grip problems that saw him crash in the first race of the season at Qatar almost ended his chances of scoring points again in Jerez, but he recovered well from a near spill to claim 11 championship points. However, 66 laps with a radical new set-up in Monday's test produced positive results as he improved on his fastest lap from the race by 0.2 seconds.
The Italian factory weren't the only ones with mysteries to solve in the first of only two post-race tests this season, the other one coming at Brno in August. Yamaha were keen to work out why Valentino Rossi could not match the pace of team-mate Lorenzo on Sunday.  | 606: DEBATE |
The seven-time MotoGP world champion tested a new spec engine to help improve top speed and acceleration, as well as experimenting with different chassis and suspension settings to solve the rear grip issues that limited him to third place in the race. He rode for only a few hours in the afternoon and his programme was set back by a low speed crash in turn two, but he was relieved not to further aggravate the right shoulder injury which contributed to his below-par performance on Sunday.
Rossi ended Monday's test session with the second-fastest time behind pacesetter Pedrosa, who was also lucky to escape injury in a much faster crash. The Spaniard was thrown from his Honda at turn 10, but returned to the track to continue evaluating the new chassis brought by the factory to his home race. Pedrosa also completed two runs on a new V4 motor but was unimpressed with its engine braking system and power delivery.
Lorenzo was third quickest, dedicating much of the day to improving his starts and the rest of it working on improving his pace in the early stages of a race, when the tyres are still fresh. "It was an interesting day - I think I did something like 25 starts!" said Lorenzo, who also tried a new chassis. "We also tried some new electronics, including traction control, and chassis parts, as well as trying a slightly different engine," he said after Monday's session. "The difference wasn't big but I did notice it, so I think this is the right way. Tuesday is my birthday and I am looking forward to finally celebrating my win!" Rumours of a delirious motorcyclist jumping into garden ponds around Barcelona are unconfirmed.
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