Jorge Lorenzo had no illusions about his ranking in this San Marino Grand Prix, but he still set himself a goal: to finish at worst 30 seconds behind the winner. But when he crossed the finish line in Misano, his teammate Marc Márquez had done the same 47 seconds earlier. His bet on soft tires didn't work out while his fitness is still a cause for concern...
On the starting grid of this Grand of San Marino, Jorge Lorenzo was the only driver on soft tires. What to shine? Not really. The Honda official finishes 14the, behind Tito Rabat which will have been a procession to Misano : " the positive side is that here I was only 1 to 2 seconds behind the best laps, whereas at Silverstone it was more than 3,5 seconds " said Jorge Lorenzo. " At Silverstone, I expected less, but my expectations did not come true. Here in Misano I hoped to only lose 30 to 40 seconds at the end of the race, and there were 47 seconds left, less than in England. I hope we continue to progress in Aragón. Physically, I felt better here than at Silverstone. That's why I moved closer to the middle of the pack. This is a positive sign. We will not see any progress in Aragón. But I think in October we will be stronger at the races in Asia, Thailand and Japan. »
Lorenzo regretted the loss of 4 kg of muscle and had to deal with the pain. What was it like when we landed after 27 laps of grinding the Misano track? “ The pain is felt much less. After the race at Silverstone, I was very sore. Even walking gave me trouble. Now the pain can be endured. That's why I was able to push more on the bike. »
« But after the Moto2 race we had very little grip and I had a lot of difficulty braking. I took the soft tires at the rear and at the front. No idea if it was the perfect choice. Anyway, I was the only driver with this mix. I had to brake much earlier in the race than during practice. So I couldn't keep up with the planned pace. I wanted to run in a small 1'38. But I never succeeded. And it got worse. That's why the group escaped in front of me » explains the Majorcan.
George finished : " I need more strength and muscle. It goes better on a single lap for qualifying. But I have to work mainly on the race time. This is not surprising after the long break and will be the most important thing for the next few weeks. The race distance is still a big challenge for me at the moment. »
MotoGP San Marino Misano J3: race classification
| 1 | 93 | Marc MÁRQUEZ | Honda | 42'25.163 |
| 2 | 20 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Yamaha | +0.903 |
| 3 | 12 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | +1.636 |
| 4 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | +12.660 |
| 5 | 21 | Frank MORBIDELLI | Yamaha | +12.774 |
| 6 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | +13.744 |
| 7 | 44 | Pol ESPARGARÓ | KTM | +20.050 |
| 8 | 36 | Joan Mir | Suzuki | +22.512 |
| 9 | 43 | Jack Miller | Ducati | +26.554 |
| 10 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | +31.456 |
| 11 | 5 | johann zarco | KTM | +32.388 |
| 12 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARÓ | Aprilia | +34.477 |
| 13 | 53 | Tito RABAT | Ducati | +35.325 |
| 14 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Honda | +47.247 |
| 15 | 55 | Hafiz Syahrin | KTM | + 1'02.280 |
| 16 | 88 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | KTM | + 1'07.831 |
| 17 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | + 1'24.666 |
| 18 | 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | Honda | 1 laps |
| Not Classified | ||||
| 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | 5 lapses | |
| 51 | Michael PIRRO | Ducati | 6 lapses | |
| 42 | Alex RINS | Suzuki | 12 lapses | |
| 63 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati | 16 lapses |
