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Even he could not believe it when he looked at the Motorland circuit’s big screen at the end of the session and saw his second place qualifying time behind Maverick Viñales. For Lorenzo, Saturday at Aragón was anything but simple, beginning with the morning when his eleventh place time in FP3 forced him to go through Q1.
“This morning the front row seemed a long way off - the Majorcan said - I needed more time than expected to understand the bike, but then I improved. Anyway, I think that it was positive to have to go through Q1 and compete there at the same time - he revealed - It gave me the chance to try different things and to improve.”
The day’s result came as no small surprise to him.
“It is definitely an unexpected second place time - number 99 commented - I am learning to appreciate this bike more and more, plus my riding confidence has increased. With a good start, anything could happen tomorrow.”
There are some who wonder whether or not he will adopt a strategy like Misano or Austria.
“I would prefer not to remember the last race - Lorenzo pointed out - partly because I am a rider who does not crash that often and on that occasion, all it took was an instant to send everything up in smoke.”
In any case, one thing is certain: the new fairing has allowed him to improve in terms of performance in no small measure.
For me, confidence and the stability with the front is important - he said - so I have better results with this evolution. Maybe I lose a bit of speed on the straight, but the benefit outweighs the loss.”
The Borgo Panigale rider is focused on the present and in particular tomorrow’s race.
“Rear tyre choice will be important - he warned - although no one can know how it will perform ahead of time. From FP4 I felt more at ease with that tyre and I showed that I have a good pace.”
That step forward that will leave his Yamaha riding style behind still needs to be made.
“This morning I struggled a lot - he recalled - It is not like being on the M1, where everything was natural when you got in the saddle. Now I have to find the right style and I still pay the price in terms of time spent.”
For the race, things are as wide open as ever. With Dovi in difficulty, winning or staying ahead of Marquez would be a result of no small consequence.
“It would be perfect if I were to finish first and then Dovi second - Lorenzo said - but it is highly unlikely. More than anything else, because Marquez, Viñales and Rossi are right there. Among other things, Valentino has everything it takes to aim for the podium and even win - he concluded - Today he rode as if he hadn’t even been injured, although I imagine he was feeling the pain in his leg.”
