Qualified in sixth position in Texas with a good time of 2'04.151, the new Spanish recruit of the Ducati team finally sees the end of the tunnel and plans to be able to compete in a Grand Prix worthy of his ambitions.
In addition to the fact that Lorenzo had a lot of difficulty adapting to his new Desmosedici GP17, there were also unfavorable circumstances. He set the twelfth time in the three free sessions in Qatar, which could give him hope like this Saturday of qualifying in Q1 for Q2, but these were canceled at Losail and Jorge could only start twelfth. He missed entering a corner, went out too wide and found himself sixteenth. He finished in eleventh position.
Qualified sixteenth in Argentina, and therefore starting from the sixth row, he rushed into the first turn and hit the rear wheel ofAndrea Iannone, falling just in front Loris Baz. The results of the first two races were therefore average, but things improved for Jorge in Austin.
He first finished sixth in the first free practice session, which was a good start, then qualified in Q1 to compete in Q2 among the 12 best. He finished sixth and above all first among the Ducati riders, which had never happened to him before this year.
According to Jorge Lorenzo, who are " After a few difficult weeks, we finally managed to achieve a good result. I am the best Ducati rider on the grid, but the most important thing is that I have a good feeling on the bike.
“I was also able to confirm what I wanted to prove in Argentina. On Sunday, it will be crucial to get a good start and avoid taking unnecessary risks in the first laps.
“Above all, we will have to finish the race, because I want to put the disappointment of the last Grand Prix behind me. The race promises to be physically tight, but I feel strong and I'm delighted with the work the team and I are doing.
“I wouldn't have been happy in recent years to finish sixth, but knowing where we were before arriving here, and after the bad races in Qatar and Argentina, a not particularly good pre-season, here is finally a good result, a big sigh of relief for the whole team, and for me.
“The important thing is that every day I feel more connected with the bike, I could be closer to the limit than what the bike can offer me at the moment. It's a good sign. My new position on the bike is much better.
“If I had finished the race in Argentina, I could probably take more risks here. But I have to try to avoid another zero, especially in the first few rounds. If it happens in the middle of the race or at the end of the race and you've done more miles, that's something else.
“But if it happens at the start of the race, on the first or second lap, it's not good, so I have to take less risks on Sunday. The important thing is to finish the race, we will try to finish in the first five, the first six if that is possible. If that's not possible, the top ten.
“Ducati and the engineers know that we have to improve, we have to improve the weak points. We are still very far away, a second, but the important thing for me is to get the most out of the bike we have at the moment. »
Photos © Ducati
Ranking compiled by our friends at crash.net:
1. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V)
2m 2.741s [Lap 7/7] 333km/h (Top Speed)
2. Maverick Vinales ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 2m 2.871s +0.130s [7/7] 336km/h
3. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 2m 3.673s +0.932s [7/7] 336km/h
4. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 2m 3.866s +1.125s [7/7] 344km/h
5. Johann zarco ENG Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)*
2m 3.928s +1.187s [6/6] 335km/h
6. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 2m 4.151s +1.410s [5/6] 342km/h
7. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 2m 4.431s +1.690s [3/7] 340km/h
8. Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)*
2m 4.623s +1.882s [3/7] 335km/h
9. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 2m 4.661s +1.920s [3/5] 333km/h
10. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 2m 4.673s +1.932s [6/7] 339km/h
11. Andrea Iannone ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)
2m 5.741s +3.000s [5/6] 334km/h
12. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 2m 5.970s +3.229s [4/5] 337km/h
13. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP17) 2m 05.221s 341km/h
14. Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15) 2m 05.231s 332km/h
15. Hector Barbera ESP Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 2m 05.541s 339km/h
16. Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 2m 05.920s 335km/h
17. Karel Abraham CZE Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP15) 2m 05.931s 339km/h
18. Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 2m 06.258s 328km/h
19. Alvaro Bautista ESP Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP16) 2m 06.295s 338km/h
20. Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)*
2m 07.232s 325km/h
21. Espargaro Pol ESP Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 2m 07.601s 329km/h
22. Alex Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) No Time
