In the debriefing he carries out after each Grand Prix to motorsportmagazine.com, the former multiple World Champion delivered his analysis on several notable events of the Spanish GP, including the return of Jorge Lorenzo to the forefront and the difficulties of the official Yamaha riders.
« Valentino has really been in trouble and it will be interesting to see what happens. There were even discussions, I think, perhaps, to try a different chassis. One thing Valentino could try would be to go back to the 2016 chassis like the one Folger and Zarco are using.
“The other thing they tested on Monday was the Michelin tire with the harder construction, which everyone is trying to get back to. I have found during my years of racing that construction is essential for stability. It helps to feel. But I think that on Sunday Michelin perhaps missed the boat a little in these really hot conditions with the tires. It's probably a combination of both. In my opinion, it's mainly construction issues that affect stability and feel. We talked about some pilots no longer using their knee on the left side because they weren't able to get that much lean.
“You can fix setup or even traction issues by changing your line and your settings, but if the tires are out of the picture it really limits what the drivers can do.
“We'll see what happens with Valentino. I really like his attitude this year – he doesn't let a lot of things affect him. He is the world championship leader with now only two points ahead of Viñales, but I think that is certainly the right attitude.
“I was hoping we would see the battle this weekend between Viñales and Marc Márquez that we didn't get to see in Austin. Maverick's attitude is a little different and we saw that happen with the pressure in Austin and this weekend, especially after the races. We will see, he is still young and has never been in this position in MotoGP. Of course he won a world championship, it will be interesting to see what happens at the next race. »
“Jorge Lorenzo couldn't have been happier if he had won the Grand Prix. I think for him it was a bit of a redemption, and he talked about it later, maybe he shows he made the right decision. We'll have to wait and see. He's doing well at Jerez and he's also a rider who uses the bike's balance between front and rear to work on corner entry and he's very precise for that. I think that helped him on Sunday.
“The other thing that helped him was the slow pace of the race. They were just two seconds faster than the total race time when Valentino won last year and 29 seconds slower than when Jorge Lorenzo won this race in 2015*. Twenty-nine seconds is a long time. Normally you don't see this. I think that helped Jorge and some others maintain that pace. »
However, remember that in 2015, Bridgestone was in their seventh year of presence as a single manufacturer, and that the motorcycles had “free” electronics.
*Pedrosa 2017: 45'26.827, Lorenzo 2015: 44'57.246
Photo © Repsol Media
Source: motorsportmagazine.com
