Jorge Lorenzo: Second place at Laguna Seca a relief after practice crash

The world champion had a violent fall at the end of final practice on Saturday morning, and though he did not suffer any serious injuries, he remained in discomfort all weekend.

Despite the accident, Lorenzo had gone on to dominate qualifying, and he also controlled the majority of today's race. But in the closing stages he was unable to resist title rival Casey Stoner, who overtook him and won.

Lorenzo still felt that second place was a lot better than he had feared at one stage.

"I'm lucky to be in the second position this weekend, because after the crash yesterday morning, in the first moments I thought it wasn't possible to take part in the race," he said.

"So after qualifying I really hoped to fight for the victory till the end. But sometimes expectations are not the reality, and today Casey was faster than us, especially at the end. He had something more than we had.

"Also my physical condition was not so perfect, so together it made us quite slow at the end."

With eight grands prix still to go in the title race, Lorenzo said he was not too concerned that Stoner had edged back into a 20-point championship lead with today's result.

"Second position is okay. Twenty points behind Casey in the championship. We'll try next time," said Lorenzo.