Crutchlow, Rossi, Lorenzo, Bautista and Pedrosa at the press conference in Motorland

Yesterday the traditional MotoGP World Championship press conference was held ahead of the start of the Grand Prix at the Motorland Aragón Circuit, where we could see Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa, Álvaro Bautista, Valentino Rossi and Cal Crutchlow talking about how they feel ahead of this 14th round of the calendar.

Without a doubt, a very exciting race awaits us, with two of our riders at the top, Lorenzo and Pedrosa, who will once again be the protagonists of this Grand Prix, in their duel for this world title which, after Misano, has turned out rather well for Jorge, but in the world of motorcycles you never know, so both will fight for results.

The first to speak was the championship leader and winner of the last MotoGP round, Jorge Lorenzo, the Mallorcan wanted to be cautious and made it clear that there is still a lot of World Championship ahead, so there are many points at stake.

There are five more races until the end and 125 points still to be awarded, and yes, the situation is much better than before Misano. But there is still a lot of pressure, so we have to stay focused in every training session, in every session. I don’t feel very comfortable thinking about points and mathematics. I like to go fast.

He also spoke about the test Yamaha carried out at this track a few weeks ago, where they were able to try some new developments and work on their M1 for the end of the season.

It is quite new [the circuit], so we don’t have a great deal of information, at least not as much as at other tracks. [The test] was a great help in achieving the correct set-up for the bike.

The second rider to take the floor was the Repsol one Honda, Dani Pedrosa, the 26 arrives with great desire and strength after the very complicated race he had at Misano Marco Simoncelli. He knows he cannot fail, and that he has to fight in every corner, lap and race of the five that remain, starting with this one at Motorland.

The past is behind us. If you stay in the past, you cannot move forward. I am trying to stay focused on every session, every lap. Let’s hope the bike goes well. I like to enjoy riding but, obviously, [the fight for] the Championship is there. It is not a good feeling when you only think about points.

The third rider to speak was Cal Crutchlow. The Briton also had a bad day at the last round at the Italian track, so now he arrives eager to leave those bad feelings behind and to be able to fight with the front runners in this 14th round.

I don’t think things could have gone any worse at Misano. This next race will be crucial. If I do well here, we will face the next races [the transoceanic triple-header] with confidence.

We are trying to salvage positive aspects from the last race.

Afterwards, it was the turn of a happy Valentino Rossi, who after his podium at Misano has shown himself more content and eager to continue along this path at Motorland. He wants to see whether those improvements on the Ducati are as satisfying at the Aragón track.

This weekend is a big test for us to understand whether our level is a bit better. We must see here and in the next four races whether it is really a step forward. I like this track, but it is hard to go fast. I need to improve my lines and my style.

And finally Álvaro Bautista, one of the most closely watched men in the World Championship at the moment, since right now the rider of the only bike left without an owner at the end of the 2012 season, although for now we only have two riders with possibilities in principle, especially after the announcement that Rea would stay in Superbikes for 2013, so the only ones in the fight are the current rider, our number 19, and the Moto2 rider, Scott Redding.

Without doubt the work done by Bautista has been going up and down, so he deserves a vote of confidence for one more season. Furthermore, for this round he will have new parts on his Honda of the San Carlo Honda Gresini, which he will test during the training sessions.

Without doubt these will be important tests, but the weather forecasts are not the best for testing our new Showa parts. I will try to get back into the fight for the podium. I had two good races here on my previous visits, but now I ride a new bike with new suspensions.

About his future he did not want to comment on it at all, and left it with this simple sentence: