It was a slightly uplifted Lorenzo who addressed his press conference after qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix. An exercise finished in third place guaranteeing him a place on the first row. All on a wet track. And it is precisely on this specific subject that the Majorcan took the opportunity to put things straight.
Un Lorenzo in the rain, it takes on water. This is the idea that settled in people's minds during a season where Por Fuera dropped handfuls of points to his opponents in a title race where he remained dry more often than in his turn when We had to brave a wet track. An assiduity in disappointment which even made one begin to doubt the destiny of the future couple that he would form with a demanding Ducati.
Leaving Phillip Island barely a week ago, Por Fuera proclaimed to anyone who would listen that they would have to count on him in Malaysia, a place where the clouds would forget him. Except they thought of him. A downpour just before the start of the qualifying sessions for the MotoGP disciplines raised fears of a new disaster for the five-time winner. But it has not happened.
Because if the Sepang track has faults, it also offers the enormous quality of providing very good grip. Something to build confidence in: “ we have always been competitive in the rain at Sepang, so it doesn't surprise me that we are this weekend; especially since the grip of the track is very good » commented the teammate Red. " I could have slowed down to cool my tires before attacking my last lap, but instead I continued at my pace and in the end my tire was too hot to get the missing three or four tenths. In any case, this third place in the rain is a good result. I'm pretty happy. I didn't have the pace to dynamite the pole anyway ».
56 thousandths behind his second pair and ahead of Márquez by another 87 thousandths, Lorenzo showed that it would have to rely on itself in case of rain. Besides, why should it be any different? When asked about his poor performance this year in the rain, he was keen to dot the i’s: “ It is not accurate to say that I am not competitive in the rain. I'm not confident with the Michelins but you should remember that with the Bridgestones I won races and took poles in the wet. When we don't have the confidence, we are slow, we get passed by everyone. Now, people talk indiscriminately when I have bad races and they are silent when I have good ones. But this sport is like that and there's nothing I can do about it ».
On tomorrow’s race, he believes: “ Like many, I would prefer a dry track, but in the wet, with the grip and the absence of bumps, our bike will be efficient. If it is mixed, you will have to be attentive to residual patches of humidity because you risk falling at each turn ».
