There is a fresh face in the MotoGP paddock this season, Dutchman Wilco Zeelenberg who will manage Jorge Lorenzo’s side of the Fiat Yamaha team garage.

Zeelenberg has arrived from Yamaha’s supersport squad where he claimed the 2009 world championship with British competitor Cal Crutchlow.   A career stemming from the late 80s to the mid 90s in the World Championship where he competed in the 250cc session, claiming 11 podiums and a victory throughout his experience in almost 100 Grands Prix.

“It was of course a pity to leave supersport, but it’s a really big challenge to fight in the highest class of motorcycle racing in MotoGP. Jorge is a fantastic rider and I’m looking forward to this new season,” explains Zeelenberg. “It’s always been a pressure to get good results and to perform so I’ve been used to it since I was three years old, because that’s when I started riding myself! I don’t feel it as a pressure.”

Returning to the World Championship scene as a Manager, Zeelenberg adds: “I left this paddock maybe 15 years ago and when I return to the GP paddock now I see many of the same faces in each pit box, a couple I actually know from the past. So it’s nice to come back.”

Commenting on his goals for the year ahead with Lorenzo, Zeelenberg states, “He’s a very motivated and focused young kid and I think that’s one of his big advantages. We don’t have to motivate him, he is really eager to win. I think the first three or four races of the season will be very important – to perform well and not make mistakes. Valentino is a very experienced rider and he will take advantage of every mistake made by other riders. I think the young guys will push harder when they make a mistake, and at the fifth, sixth, seventh rounds they will push and maybe make even more mistakes. Jorge knows that he can beat anybody when everything is correct, but he should also understand that if not everything is perfect for that race he must be able to sit back and take a podium.”

He adds: “I think Jorge needs somebody who believes in him because there are of course two good riders in the one team. I think we need to focus on him and he has ten guys who are now really working for Jorge, and I think we should show him that. I think then he can perform as he is able to, and that will help him throughout the season. You have to perform well when it’s the right moment, and you have to make the right decision when everything is not 100%.”

With a sound technical knowledge to Lorenzo’s team, Zeelenberg gives his view on the new YZR-M1 prototype.

“The base bike is quite similar (to 2009) so we have an advantage with that I think. Each track we arrive at we can use our base set-up from last year. That means we can arrive at a track at which we won last year and start from a good base, and at a track where we had some problems we know what to adjust.”

Summarising, Zeelenberg adds his thoughts on the new restrictions of using six engines over all 18 rounds of the 2010 World Championship.

“The six-engine rule is a big thing,” he adds. “Everybody has really focused on that issue during the winter, so it’s a secret to say what happened! But of course that was the main priority for the factory to concentrate on.”