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Jorge Lorenzo’s mood is like the sky over Assen: grey. The world champion was never able to get going this weekend and the rain only worsened the situation. Starting from the 10th spot on the grid is his worst qualifying since 2008.
“On the dry I could stay in the top 6. In the wet, in FP4, I didn’t do too badly but I tended to lose the front in all the right-handers – he explains – We decided to make a change, moving the weight forward, but by doing that, not only did I not solve the problem, but I also lost grip at the rear.”
It could not have gone worse.
“It felt like I was riding on eggs – he continues – I tried to stay on the track to gain some confidence and I was able to improve a bit, but not enough. Valentino was smart to put on a new tyre, but he would have been faster than me anyway.”
As if that was not enough, in the morning session Jorge also fell.
“A lot of us did. I was using the medium compound tyre but it was too hard for those temperatures – he says – When the throttle opened, the rear pushed on the front, closing it up.”
The race will be anything but easy.
“I need to have confidence in the tyres to be fast. When there is no grip I am unable to be competitive – is his analysis – The Yamaha is not an easy bike when the grip is poor and I am the one that has the most problems. It is partly my fault and today I was far from the leaders.”
Jorge hopes for a good start.
“I am usually good and I could even find myself in the front group – he hopes – Unfortunately, there is no such thing as the perfect rider. It is not I, it is not Marquez and not even Valentino. Fortunately, 90% of the races are held in normal conditions, where I am fast, but I need to try to be fast all the time. I need to understand my problems and work to resolve them. Without a miracle, it will be difficult to ride a wet race. I need to improve by at least a second.”
Some indirect help could come from Rossi.
“As always, we share data. He is very fast and it will be interesting to compare the data to see how I can improve.”
