Joined Jun 2007
10K Posts | 1K+
Norah Head
Whaaaaaat!!!? Lorenzo to Honda is superb! Im not sure the recent Duc performance is anywhere near negating the dificukt time he has had.
Whaaaaaat!!!? Lorenzo to Honda is superb! Im not sure the recent Duc performance is anywhere near negating the dificukt time he has had.
Joined Apr 2015
6K Posts | 5K+
NJ
Well we know Lorenzo's hole shot will have him in the lead going into turn 1. Not sure what MM will be doing since he's looked all over the place this weekend. He'll be desperate to keep P2 heading into the corner. His only strategy is going to be not to crash, hold onto 2nd, and hope Lorenzo's tires hold up. Good pole for Lorenzo. If he wins, Ducati is going to have a lot of egg on their face and rightfully so. He's looking good right now.
Joined Jun 2015
488 Posts | 303+
Cornwall England
Joined Jun 2018
143 Posts | 97+
New York
As much as I can see, JLo probably got the best race pace, below 1.40. Even with worn tyres he was looking good. Marquez was strong as well, but we don't have data on his worn tyres pace.
Joined May 2008
3K Posts | 79+
Southern Aridzona - Hell's doorstep.
With 13 races yet to run, Lorenzo is "only" 54 points adrift. Ducati is gonna feed REAL :blink: if Jorge winds up bolting the #1 plate to a Honda!
Anyone wanna take that bet? At what odds?
After a few more races we'll hopefully have have a sense of how "durable" Jorge's recent turn of speed really is. He'll need more than a magic tank to fight for wins consistently.
Joined Sep 2015
734 Posts | 1K+
Office cubicle
Let's talk about Michelins...
Jorge Lorenzo:
“There is no real soft tyre: there is a soft that provides more grip in some points, but you can also be fast with the medium and hard. I feel good, but maybe the credit goes to the bike: the front still doesn’t have enough grip in my opinion. This is the step forward the Michelin needs to take in the future. For tomorrow it will be possible to put on two soft tyres. Unlike Honda, we can try this solution because they last longer for us.”
Valentino Rossi:
“Tomorrow I expect a strange race, as already happened in Italy - Rossi explains - The reason is that we do not have the right front tyre available to us: the soft is too soft, whereas the medium does not guarantee grip. It will probably take a lot of strategy.”
“The problem is that Michelin did not bring the right front tyres and it was a mistake that could have been avoided, because we tested on this track. I had told them and there could have been another option for the front, midway between the soft and the medium that we have available to us, but they didn’t bring it.”
“I don’t know who and why chooses which tyres to bring. Michelin is doing a good job, but in the last few races, they got it wrong for the front tyre selection they make available to us.”
“I think that everyone is in difficulty. The feeling is that the fastest riders are the ones who struggle less with the tyres, but no one is perfectly okay. When there is only one tyre you can use, like what is happening now, depending on your riding style and the bike, you may struggle more or less.”
Does the situation get worse with the heat?
“Absolutely. In the morning, the track is fantastic, but when the asphalt hits 50°C, everything becomes difficult and grip at the front becomes critical. For tomorrow, I’ll have to hope for a cloudy day (laughing). Another unknown is how grip on the track will change after the Moto2 race. Sometimes it gets very slippery.”
Andrea Iannone:
“The tyres will deteriorate a lot in the race – he warned – Among other things, the medium, hard and soft are practically all very similar. Tomorrow morning we’ll decide which to choose, also because it will be important to assess track conditions. The problem is that when the tyres deteriorate, we really struggle.
Iannone is asked if the podium is within reach.
“It depends on the temperature – he admitted – When the track is cool, we have something more than the others. However, right now we are not podium material. Like I said, we are unable to manage the tyres because when they deteriorate, it conditions pace and going into corners. I think Michelin has done a great job – he added – but at the same time, I can say that even saving a few tenths of a second does not benefit the tyre. The tyres really tend to slide around here and I think it is a mechanical question.”
Jorge Lorenzo:
“There is no real soft tyre: there is a soft that provides more grip in some points, but you can also be fast with the medium and hard. I feel good, but maybe the credit goes to the bike: the front still doesn’t have enough grip in my opinion. This is the step forward the Michelin needs to take in the future. For tomorrow it will be possible to put on two soft tyres. Unlike Honda, we can try this solution because they last longer for us.”
Valentino Rossi:
“Tomorrow I expect a strange race, as already happened in Italy - Rossi explains - The reason is that we do not have the right front tyre available to us: the soft is too soft, whereas the medium does not guarantee grip. It will probably take a lot of strategy.”
“The problem is that Michelin did not bring the right front tyres and it was a mistake that could have been avoided, because we tested on this track. I had told them and there could have been another option for the front, midway between the soft and the medium that we have available to us, but they didn’t bring it.”
“I don’t know who and why chooses which tyres to bring. Michelin is doing a good job, but in the last few races, they got it wrong for the front tyre selection they make available to us.”
“I think that everyone is in difficulty. The feeling is that the fastest riders are the ones who struggle less with the tyres, but no one is perfectly okay. When there is only one tyre you can use, like what is happening now, depending on your riding style and the bike, you may struggle more or less.”
Does the situation get worse with the heat?
“Absolutely. In the morning, the track is fantastic, but when the asphalt hits 50°C, everything becomes difficult and grip at the front becomes critical. For tomorrow, I’ll have to hope for a cloudy day (laughing). Another unknown is how grip on the track will change after the Moto2 race. Sometimes it gets very slippery.”
Andrea Iannone:
“The tyres will deteriorate a lot in the race – he warned – Among other things, the medium, hard and soft are practically all very similar. Tomorrow morning we’ll decide which to choose, also because it will be important to assess track conditions. The problem is that when the tyres deteriorate, we really struggle.
Iannone is asked if the podium is within reach.
“It depends on the temperature – he admitted – When the track is cool, we have something more than the others. However, right now we are not podium material. Like I said, we are unable to manage the tyres because when they deteriorate, it conditions pace and going into corners. I think Michelin has done a great job – he added – but at the same time, I can say that even saving a few tenths of a second does not benefit the tyre. The tyres really tend to slide around here and I think it is a mechanical question.”
I know we aren't supposed to mention him here as some consider him a 'hack' but Krop has tweeted (sit down Libby, this is good news if correct) that Lorenzo spent the entire FP3 on a single set of softs and completed 23 laps.
May not seem impressive as he was 12th but rarely are race laps equal to qualifying anyway, plus apparently his last lap was a 1:39:795 ............
May not seem impressive as he was 12th but rarely are race laps equal to qualifying anyway, plus apparently his last lap was a 1:39:795 ............
Joined Feb 2007
11K Posts | 2K+
Tennessee
Marc just needs to finish the race and not get caught up in trying to run with Lorenzo unless he can do it comfortably. Lorenzo is not the competition at the moment, he needs to beat Dovi, Vinales and Rossi to stop the bleeding and then head to some tracks that suit him and the Honda. Once again we hear the word “strange “from riders describing the tires . Carmelo opined a few years back that his wish is for Michelin to build unpredictability into the tires to keep the show close, it appears he has got his wish as Manipchelin is now controlling who wins and loses.
I think he wanted such tires when Bridgestone were still the supplier, I can remember him talking about the F1 tire lottery of the time.
Joined Oct 2006
25K Posts | 4K+
Your Mom's House
DEFCON 5 to avoid "boring" races which has the awful affect of tuning out viewers. The worst thing that can happen if your business is TV rating is to have the guy 85% of your audience hates win by large margins. The solution is make the winner unpredictable, preferably with a the possibly of a sudden crash. Keeps it interesting all the way to the last lap.
If you live in a glass house don't throw rocks.
Being accountants/merchant bankers they have no strategic vision and have managed to row themselves up a particularly malodorous creek.
I guess Dovi would not be an unpopular title winner, but while I can see him winning one title, the only guys imo capable of multi-title runs, and in MM’s case currently on such a run which is quite likely to continue, are hated by a high percentage of his audience, as our resident bopper continually illustrates, due to a narrative Dorna pretty much abetted. Irony can be fairly ironic, as my brother the history teacher is wont to say. I guess Dorna can only hope the next MM signs for the future VR46 team.
Joined Oct 2015
329 Posts | 196+
UK
Joined May 2009
6K Posts | 4K+
Shovel's Club
Joined May 2009
6K Posts | 4K+
Shovel's Club
I predicted it was a one year thing. But honestly I like to see him going for it and binning a few. He wants it.
