It was an obviously happy Jorge Lorenzo who presented himself at the traditional post-race press conference, because of his victory, of course, but also for having undermined the lack of luck which overwhelmed him on this circuit for two years.
His morale pumped up to the max, the Majorcan pilot therefore indulged in a little humor, but also an explanation of his little gesture towards…. we wonder who!
The #99 also discussed its tire fitting in depth which, thanks to a daring choice, was one of the determining elements of his victory.
We offer you here a translation of his entire remarks.
Jorge Lorenzo: “Even under pressure from Andrea, the speed I was able to have during the last three laps was impressive and allowed me to make a small difference. It went to a second when Marc was able to pass Dovizioso.
When Iannone and Dovizioso were leading the race, the pace was not very fast. Andrea lost a little time in certain turns and I was able to gain a few meters there. So I decided to pass him in the middle of the route to increase the gap in the last sector in order to prevent him from passing me again on the straight. That was the key. When I led and increased the pace, he followed me. Doing the whole race in 0.3 or 0.5, I couldn't outrun him, but I kept riding hard and thinking I could go even faster, and I think my belief won me this which, for me, was one of the three best races of my career.
It is very important to finish on the podium in the first race, because in the last two years I crashed in 2014 and scored no points, which later turned out to be very bad for my season because I did not I didn't have the same confidence or the same calm, and I didn't finish on the podium last year. Winning the first race is perfect because it gives you a lot of confidence and a little peace of mind since you have a slight advantage over the other drivers. »
How do you rate Michelin tires?
“First of all, I think Michelin did a great job on the front tire, because we had a lot of crashes and problems in the first tests with the first front tires. It was then very difficult to understand where the limits of this front tire were.
During the last tests we were able to try different types of front tires and the feeling has improved enormously as well as the understanding of where the limits are. We must congratulate Michelin for these improvements, especially since we can finally manage the rear tire to finish the race in good conditions. Of course, there is a loss of efficiency but you can stay more or less at the same pace, whatever the tire, as we saw today with the first four. »
Can you explain to us what difference these tires make when entering and exiting corners?
“In the end, with the front tires that Michelin has brought in since the last tests, we may not be able to brake with quite the same style as with the Bridgestones, but it's pretty close. but the rear is really good because it allows a lot of traction. It loses its efficiency in a different way to the Bridgestone, you have to slide a little more and you have to steer the bike a little more with the accelerator during the race, but ultimately, the times are very similar and there is no not a big difference as there was during the first tests.
We saw you congratulate a Michelin technician at the end of the race. Was your tire choice crucial to your victory today?
“He congratulated me, it was not me who congratulated him (laughs). Obviously I was happy and we were all happy, but he wanted to use the hard tire (laughs). My final decision probably won me the race (laughs). Maybe in the future he will help me choose the tire for victory, but this time it was not the case (laughs). But we work very well together, there are no problems. »
Will seeing the Ducatis so close in the race influence the decision you have to make in the coming days?
" No no. What happened today in the race doesn't change anything, apart from 25 points and a lot of confidence, but it won't decide what I do in the future. »
You made a gesture on your bike and on the podium that meant someone should stop talking… Who was that addressed to?
“A picture is more effective than 1000 words. That's the only thing I can say, and today I spoke on the track. »
How much risk did you take with your choice of soft rear tire?
“Michelin told me that the Soft would make the bike move more than the Hard, but the performance would remain more or less the same. The fact that I was quite slow during the Warm Up made me follow this direction because I had seen a few drivers faster than me with the soft tires. Something wasn't working on my bike with the Dur so we had to take the other option. »
