Factory Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo is facing the most crucial part of the 2013 MotoGP season, starting at Sepang this weekend where he says he needs to recover some of the points gap to leader Marc Marquez.
It may be made slightly easier for Lorenzo as the rookie Spaniard may well start Sunday's clash from the back of the grid, dependant on his meeting with race direction tomorrow, and the fact Dani Pedrosa is still carrying a hip injury as a result of his massive Aragon highside.
Now we start the big trip with three races in a row and face the last part of the championship, the crucial part. After Aragon where we fought so hard we now visit a special circuit. Sepang is a track everybody knows really well," said Lorenzo.
"I guess all the riders will be strong there because we made a couple of pre-season tests. Sepang is a long and technical circuit with two great straights but also some nice corners. The worst thing is it’s always stormy and you never know when it is going to rain.
"I have some good memories there but we need to keep focus now on the race and try to recover a little bit to Marquez. The championship is difficult but we want to fight until the end. Let’s see what happens.”