Following his fine second place in Aragon, Jorge Lorenzo explained on numerous occasions that his instinct made him choose the hard rear tire.
Ramón Forcada, its technical manager, explains: “We were lucky because after the crash during the warm up, we decided to take the crash bike for a spin, just to check that everything was working well, and we had put the hard rear tire on. On the racing bike, it was the soft, it was Michelin's choice and when he (Lorenzo) did the warm-up lap and arrived on the grid, he said "um" and he felt that the bike was better with the hard tire, and we decided to change at that moment. »
The site MotoGP.com, who really does an enormous job, filmed the moment when the Mallorcan driver made his decision and, ultimately, the instinct could still have been influenced by the name of the latest winner…
Forcada: “The only other (driver) with the soft rear is Dovi… and you. »
Lorenzo: “What would you do? »
Forcada: “The only thing I would say is that the hard rear is more stable. Dani hesitated too, but he pushed hard. »
Lorenzo: “Okay, put on the hard one. »
Beyond the anecdote, it must be noted that with new tires very frequently provided by Michelin, all more or less usable in racing depending on the bike and its settings as well as the riding style, MotoGP riders are now observing each other between them much more than before, and until the last second, to know what the others have chosen as gum. And that, in these conditions, there even begins to be a certain form of “intoxication” (last second change)...
Was this the case when Jorge Lorenzo changed tires at the last second? We really don't think so.
