It’s a Jorge Lorenzo ecstatic who takes stock of a Grand Prix of Catalonia that he dominated head and shoulders. An ordeal carried out masterfully with the relentless application of a plan imposed in the face of adversity. With his soft tires, it was essential that he was in the lead from the start to set a pace fast enough to set the tone and wise enough to preserve his tires. A successful bet, like in Mugello and a rise in the championship which is starting to worry his opponents…
Worrying indeed because Catalonia demonstrated that Mugello was not an accident, a stroke of brilliance, an isolated outburst. And Por Fuera’s statements will only alert the competition a little more: “ I have never felt so good on the Ducati and perhaps even on no other bike. I experienced this sometimes in 2016 in certain races because the year had not been good. 2015 was better ". It was that of his last title.
Winning two races in a row has not happened at Por Fuera since 2016. It was then between Le Mans and Mugello. He explains the recipe for his Catalan creation: “ I managed the tires by being gentle with the throttle. On this point I changed my driving style. I knew that Marc had other tires and that he could be better at the end of the race with his less soft compounds. But ultimately, the rubbers were similar. So I was able to maintain my advantage ».
And now ? Perhaps the best is yet to come! “ The bad news is that we are far behind in the standings but the good news is that there are twelve races remaining. The title was unthinkable before Mugello. Now it's possible. It will be hard, but we have our chance. Things can turn around very quickly. I can suddenly lose a lot of points in one race. But I live day by day. Last year we were far from the mark, now the bike is competitive. I feel very good. It is perhaps the best of all Ducatis. This is all positive. We must see. We have no pressure. We have nothing to lose ».
15 years ago, on this same Barcelona circuit, Loris Capirossi gave Ducati its first victory in MotoGP. Montmélo is sacred ground for Ducati!
Catalan Grand Prix Barcelona MotoGP J.3: Ranking
| 1 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Ducati | 40'13.566 |
| 2 | 93 | Marc Márquez | Honda | +4.479 |
| 3 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | +6.098 |
| 4 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | +9.805 |
| 5 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | +10.640 |
| 6 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | +10.798 |
| 7 | 5 | johann zarco | Yamaha | +13.432 |
| 8 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | +15.055 |
| 9 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Ducati | +22.057 |
| 10 | 29 | Andrea Iannone | Suzuki | +24.141 |
| 11 | 44 | Pol Espargaró | KTM | +36.560 |
| 12 | 45 | Scott REDDING | Aprilia | +38.229 |
| 13 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | + 1'21.526 |
| 14 | 21 | Frank MORBIDELLI | Honda | 3 lapses |
| Not Classified | ||||
| 55 | Hafiz Syahrin | Yamaha | 4 lapses | |
| 53 | Tito RABAT | Ducati | 6 lapses | |
| 43 | Jack Miller | Ducati | 7 lapses | |
| 38 | Bradley SMITH | KTM | 11 lapses | |
| 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | Honda | 11 lapses | |
| 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | 13 lapses | |
| 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 16 lapses | |
| 10 | Xavier SIMEON | Ducati | 17 lapses | |
| 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | 20 lapses | |
| 12 | Thomas LUTHI | Honda | 21 lapses | |
| 50 | Sylvain GUINTOLI | Suzuki | 22 lapses | |
| Not Finished 1st Lap | ||||
| 36 | Mika Kallio | KTM | 0 laps |
