When Jorge Lorenzo has all the tools in hand, he cuts his way with a billhook. So dominant, we give him a hammer since he knocks down the competition. But when this is not the case, we would almost take it for a pliers. So many situations that the Mallorcan has experienced this year, making his season a roller coaster ride.
Jorge Lorenzo, we must not hide it, is experiencing a complicated campaign. Three victories certainly, five podiums, undoubtedly, but also two retirements and, above all, two last catastrophic Grands Prix. In two events suffered in unpredictable weather at Assen and at the Sachsenring, the three-time World Champion Yamaha dropped no less than 38 points to a rival. Marc Márquez on the contrary imperturbable.
At the halfway point of the season, the Majorcan is 48 lengths behind the double winner from HRC who has taken an option for a third coronation. Por Fuera can seem as strong as he is feverish depending on the weather and his sensations with the Michelin front tire. A big gap which does not reassure for the rest of the events while the teammate of Valentino Rossi has already fallen eight times this year.
Never Jorge Lorenzo has never experienced such a series of accidents. For the German Grand Prix alone, he fell three times, as many as in all of his 2010, 2010 and 2015 seasons. Until this 2016 deadline, he had never found himself more than five all four irons in the air. The bowl records from 2011 and 2012 will be broken this time.
So many facts which undermine morale and erode concentration in an atmosphere of departure for the Ducati factory where a new adventure will begin. Does this mean that we should already exclude the Yamaha with the 99 from the current race for the title? His field man Wilco Zeelenberg excludes this possibility: “ Jorge is a five-time World Champion and he is going through a bad patch that is undermining his confidence. But he doesn't make any excuses. He clearly states that he has no feelings and that if he attacks more, he will fall. In Germany it fell three times. So we can't decently say that he's not trying, that he's given up. Our relationships are strong. We win and we lose together ».
On this, the same Zeelenberg analysis on crash.net : " Jorge rides a lot with the rear of the bike and for that he needs to feel his front tire well. We saw during the last races that he was not wearing out his front tire. Jorge has a very fluid riding style but sometimes the front tire needs to be attacked, to be stressed to be effective ". A lack of osmosis whose cause is the driver: “ the problem comes from his driving style because he is the one who suffers the most. His style is really unique but it is also devilishly effective and very precise when he feels exactly where the limit is. ».
Meanwhile, Valentino Rossi the pair adapts: “ Vale had some great races, including that of Assen despite his accident. He wouldn't be so far down the rankings if he had been more successful. So the bike is not bad. But a pilot needs good sensations. Vale's style allows for some things that Jorge's style doesn't. ". These are essential sensitivities that it will be interesting to evaluate on the Ducati from next year.
