#JapaneseGP MotoGP J.3 Jorge Lorenzo “Without rear grip, it was impossible to do anything”

Lorenzo is gradually starting to improve his performance on the Ducati, and for example this Sunday he proved once again that he is capable of making good starts and achieving brilliant first laps with the Desmosedici.

Free practice had already gone rather well for the Spaniard, with the fourth fastest time in the standings, 0.3 behind his teammate Andrea Dovizioso. The qualification was rather good taking into account the climatic circumstances, with the fifth time which allowed Lorenzo to start from the middle of the second row, between Alex Espargaro and Dani Pedrosa.

Jorge got off to an excellent start and took the lead at the end of the first lap, before having to give in to the onslaught of Danilo Petrucci during the second. He was then overtaken by Marc Marquez, Andrea Dovizioso, Johann Zarco, Andrea Iannone, Alex Rins, Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales, which put him in ninth position by the sixth lap. He then moved up to sixth place at the finish line, behind the two Suzuki GSX-RRs.

To Jorge Lorenzo, who are " I can't be happy with my race, because we had the potential to try to win if there hadn't been so much water on the track. We weren't able to find the right setting to be fast in these conditions and without rear grip it was impossible for me to do anything.

“I gradually managed to get a better feeling with the bike, I improved my pace and I was able to overtake Viñales, Zarco and Aleix Espargaro. In the end, we were missing almost a second per lap today, and it's a shame because this weekend we were always fast.

“I want to congratulate Andrea, because he turns out to be a very good driver, mentally too, and he is able to take advantage of every chance to fight for the world title. Hats off, and congratulations to him and the whole team. »

Japanese Grand Prix standings:

1 Andrea DOVIZIOSO-Ducati Team-Ducati

2 Marc MARQUEZ-Repsol Honda Team-Honda +0.249

3 Danilo PETRUCCI-OCTO Pramac Racing-Ducati +10.557

4 Andrea IANNONE-Team SUZUKI ECSTAR-Suzuki +18.845

5 Alex RINS-Team SUZUKI ECSTAR-Suzuki +22.982

6 Jorge LORENZO-Ducati Team-Ducati +24.464

7 Aleix ESPARGARO-Aprilia Racing Team Gresini-Aprilia +28.010

8 Johann ZARCO-Monster Yamaha Tech 3-Yamaha +29.475

9 Maverick VIÑALES-Movistar Yamaha MotoGP-Yamaha +36.575

10 Loris BAZ-Reale Avintia Racing-Ducati +48.506

11 Pol ESPARGARO-Red Bull KTM Factory Racing-KTM +56.357