The 2018 season of Jorge Lorenzo at Ducati will have to be of a different ilk than that of 2017. Certainly, it was his first year at Ducati after years spent on a Yamaha, but with five world titles in his pocket, some thought that the talent exuding from the prize list would clear this pitfall. However, Por Fuera did not do better than the others present before him, when they met the Desmosedici. But he was already better paid than those and much more than a teammate Dovizioso who fought for the title until the last Grand Prix. A big gap on which the Mallorcan comes back. With arguments which would clearly show that the atmosphere is changing in the red box…
Jorge Lorenzo returns from Sepang where, after three days of testing, he set a new record on the track which is the playground of the Malaysian Grand Prix. Enough to announce the color for a 2018 season which should not take place in the shadow of DesmoDovi. Which was the case with the previous one. A surprise because the Italian only had two victories to his name and he had never been in the running for the crown in the premier category.
More Dovizioso is now a customer. Six victories in a campaign spent upsetting Marc Marquez. Lorenzo will have to show that he lives up to his reputation… And his emoluments! A parallel that he highlights by recalling who he is… “The value of a pilot is determined according to the results he has acquired. When Ducati took me, I had won championships and the riders who were there had only won one or two races. Drivers like me or like Rossi or Márquez have a safer value than those who have never won or who have not been World Champion.”
This is what it says on Tutomotoriweb. But for all that, Lorenzo is not in denial: “It is normal that after his 2017 season, Dovizioso has more leverage to ask for an increase in his salary in negotiations regarding the renewal of his contract”. As for his personal case: “I feel very good at Ducati, I have been very well received there. I now have Debon by my side and we have known each other for fifteen years. He’s a friend and a positive person who will help me.”
MotoGP will resume its off-season work on February 16 in Thailand on an unknown Buriram track. However, Ducati has already promised that it will bring a big new thing…
