According to his own words, at each Grand Prix it takes Jorge Lorenzo quite a long time for him to adapt to his Ducati on a circuit that is new for the rider-machine pair. It was therefore with a certain surprise that we saw him emerge like a devil from his box on Friday to set the second time, two tenths behind Dani Pedrosa.
But it was raining, the track was wet, and that perhaps explained it. Jorge's opponents were perhaps not going all out in the wet, preferring not to take risks when the weather forecast predicted good weather for the weekend. Confirmation was desired.
The performance was more modest on Saturday morning and Lorenzo finished eleventh in the free practice rankings, a full second behind Marquez. It was a little worrying, but not so much for Jorge who was actually discovering the GP17 in Aragon in the dry during this third session.
The infamous side of this eleventh position was that he had to go through Q1, which was not a foregone conclusion against Johann Zarco, Jack Miller and Danilo Petrucci. But Lorenzo was uncompromising and took the best time in 1'48.179, 0.1 ahead of Zarco and Miller. This extra driving compared to the others at the start of the afternoon was entirely beneficial to him. In Q2 he installed his Desmosedici on the front row with the second time, between the two Yamahas of Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi.
It was Jorge's best qualifying result this year since joining Ducati, tied with his second time in Catalonia, just ahead of his third time in Austria.
According to Jorge Lorenzo, who are " This Saturday we did a very good job and I am delighted with my progress from this morning until this afternoon. I had great feelings in both FP4 and qualifying, and it was a nice surprise to be on the front row if you look at my times this morning.
“This time it was useful to participate in Q1 because I was able to do a lot more laps on the soft tires and prepare better for Q2.
“I think I have a good pace, but it will be very important to choose the rear tire well and manage it as best as possible during the race. In any case, I'm ready to have a good race tomorrow. »
Qualification results:
1- Maverick Vinales – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha YZR M1 – 1’47.635
2- Jorge Lorenzo – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 0.100
3- Valentino Rossi – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.180
4- Cal Crutchlow – LCR Honda – Honda RC213V – + 0.195
5- Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 0.328
6- Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda Team - Honda RC213V - + 0.472
7- Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 0.502
8- Aleix Espargaro – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – Aprilia RS-GP – + 0.524
9- Alvaro Bautista – Pull&Bear Aspar Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 0.552
10- Andrea Iannone – Team Suzuki ECSTAR – Suzuki GSX-RR – + 0.654
11- Johann Zarco – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.767
12- Mika Kallio – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM RC16 – + 0.836
13- Jack Miller – EG 0,0 Marc VDS – Honda RC213V
14- Pol Espargaro – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM RC16
15- Karel Abraham – Pull&Bear Aspar Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP
16- Danilo Petrucci – OCTO Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP
17- Loris Baz – Reale Avintia Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP
18- Jonas Folger – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1
19- Hector Barbera – Reale Avintia Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP
20- Alex Rins – Team Suzuki ECSTAR – Suzuki GSX-RR
21- Tito Rabat – EG 0,0 Marc VDS – Honda RC213V
22- Scott Redding – OCTO Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP
23- Bradley Smith – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM RC16
24- Sam Lowes – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – Aprilia RS-GP
Provisional ranking of the World Championship:
1 Marc MARQUEZ-Honda 199 points
2 Andrea DOVIZIOSO-Ducati 199
3 Maverick VIÑALES-Yamaha 183
4 Valentino ROSSI-Yamaha 157
5 Dani PEDROSA-Honda 150
6 Johann ZARCO-Yamaha 110
7 Danilo PETRUCCI-Ducati 95
8 Cal CRUTCHLOW-Honda 92
9 Jorge LORENZO-Ducati 90
10 Jonas FOLGER-Yamaha 84
11 Alvaro BAUTISTA-Ducati 62
12 Scott REDDING-Ducati 54
13 Jack MILLER-Honda 53
14 Aleix ESPARGARO-Aprilia 43
15 Loris BAZ-Ducati 39
16 Andrea IANNONE-Suzuki 33
17 Pol ESPARGARO-KTM 31
18 Karel ABRAHAM-Ducati 28
19 Alex RINS-Suzuki 27
20 Tito RABAT-Honda 27
21 Hector BARBERA-Ducati 23
22 Michele PIRRO-Ducati 18
Photos © Ducati
