Lorenzo keen to make up for Jerez

The Yamaha rider followed up his Motegi win with a staggering pole lap at Jerez, only to fall back to fourth in the race and then crash out.

That meant he fell from the lead of the standings to third place, 24 points behind his series-leading team-mate Valentino Rossi.

Lorenzo believes it is now vital that he gets a good result in France to get his title bid back on course.

"Le Mans is the next stop and the first after my crash in Jerez," said the Spaniard. "I was very sad about what happened there but now it is another story, everything begins again and I must try to do things step by step.

"The team and I need to improve after Jerez and main target is to get back on the podium. I am fit and I like Le Mans."

He said his performance in France last year, when he raced with a broken ankle after a Shanghai accident but still shrugged off practice and qualifying crashes, and an awful start, to come through to second, gave him a lot of confidence for the race.

"I have had some difficult times there, and last year wasn't easy because I crashed twice during the weekend, but in the end the result was good," said Lorenzo.

"I've been on the podium in each category and I will remember forever the incredible (all) Yamaha podium of last year. It was amazing. I can see now Valentino, Colin (Edwards) and I enjoying the moment with all the Yamaha people smiling. I hope this year we can repeat that moment.

"I will also remember that podium because it's the only one where I was on crutches!"

His team manager Daniele Romagnoli is also optimistic that Lorenzo can get over the Jerez disappointment with a great result in France.

"Le Mans was very good for us last year, especially considering that Jorge was not in great physical condition," he said.

"Jerez was a great disappointment but now we're keen to move on to France and hopefully we will be able to forget the bad memory from Spain. Le Mans generally suits our Yamaha very well so we hope that we can make the most of it."