Although reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo continues to lead the overall classification ahead of Honda duo Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner, the Spaniard's only win this season came in damp conditions, in Spain, while in every other Grand Prix he trailed the Hondas in both qualifying and race.
However, following his 2nd place finish at Estoril two weekends ago, the one-day test at the Portuguese track provided Yamaha with an opportunity to test some updates that will not only close the gap to rivals Honda, but also boost the M1 to front-running pace.
“We had a fantastic test in Estoril, everybody was surprised with the good weather so we had the opportunity to try many things,” admitted team manager Wilco Zeelenberg in a recent interview with the media.
“Hopefully we've found our way back from the test to an improved setting so Jorge can go back to his old riding style of fast corner entry which he was missing a little for the first three races. We've given that back to him so were confident he can perform well in France and for the rest of the season.”
Once again, Yamaha will be tackling a friendly track in France this weekend, as it happened in Estoril in Round 3. The last two outings on the Le Mans track have been secured by Lorenzo, while Yamaha has won the last four. Nevertheless, the reigning world champion is keeping his feet on the ground when it comes to his expectations for the near future, admitting that his only focus will remain to score podiums, not necessarily wins, in the upcoming two rounds at Le Mans and Montmelo.
The Spaniard leads the MotoGP classification from Honda's Pedosa by 4 points, while Stoner sits further in the back, in 3rd place, 24 points behind Lorenzo.
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