Lorenzo: Marquez like Stoner, but never gives up

Having offered the only opposition to Honda stars Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa at the last two races, MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo is well placed to compare the riding characteristics of his title rivals.

Rookie Marquez - winner of the last four rounds - leads the championship by 26 points from Pedrosa heading into Sunday's British GP, with Yamaha's Lorenzo 44 points from the top in third.

Marquez replaced retiring double champion Casey Stoner at the start of this year and Lorenzo - who emerged on the wrong side of a thrilling pole position duel with Marquez at Silverstone - seems to feel he has swapped one great rival for an even toughen opponent.

Asked about the differences in riding styles when battling Pedrosa and Marquez, Lorenzo answered:

"Dani is very smooth, so this has some benefits, but at this moment Marc is a more complete rider. He is more like Casey [Stoner]. But the difference between Casey and him is that Marc never gives up, when Casey sometimes gives up. Marc never gives up and for this is even harder to beat no?

"Maybe Casey at Phillip Island is faster, or in some little moments [would be] faster than Marc, but Marc never gives up.

"Also I believe that he [Marquez] has been lucky with his crashes and if he is taking the same risks for a long time, maybe sometimes he will get injured because it is not so simple not to get injured when you risk so much."

Lorenzo has been the leading Yamaha rider at seven of the ten races he has started this season, despite riding injured at several rounds due to collarbone fractures at Assen and then further damage at the Sachsenring.

The Spaniard out-qualified team-mate Valentino Rossi by more than one-second at Silverstone and believes he is riding at the best of his career - yet hasn't won a race since June.

Nevertheless, Lorenzo insisted he is not getting frustrated.

"Well in some years we had a great bike and won a lot of championships, in the [first] era with Vale we finished first and second in many races. We had a great bike. At this moment it is not the same so we have to wait for Yamaha to give us something more.

"Yamaha are working, we don't have the seamless [gearbox], they don't use the clutch for braking so for the evolution they [Honda] are in front. So first we have to try and get the same as them, then something new, at the moment we are behind."