Lorenzo seeking solution for last sector woes

Jorge Lorenzo has admitted there is a margin to improve through Assen’s final sector after acknowledging the fast, flowing final ribbon of tarmac was his Achilles’ Heel on the first day of MotoGP free practice at Assen.

Having emphatically triumphed in the previous two outings, the 31-year old is rejuvenated in the season’s mid-part. The mental scars from his 2013 crash through the Meeuwenmeer-Hoge Heide rights were still apparent however; Lorenzo was losing 0.4s to pace setter Maverick Viñales in the circuit’s fourth sector alone.

Compared to Yamaha’s nimble, sweet-handling M1, the Ducati GP18 is some way behind in terms of agility. Team-mate Andrea Dovizioso said as much, feeling the right-left high-speed flick through Hoge Heide and Ramshoek is “very” difficult to manage aboard the Bologna machine.

Yet Lorenzo feels part of the issue is personal. His “interpretation” of the racing line is not right. Thus part of his work this evening will focus on attacking the section in a more refined manner on Saturday.

“Well, apart from the last sector I’m one of the fastest riders,” said Lorenzo, who ended Friday with the seventh fastest time, 0.492s off Viñales’ best. “I was always red [fastest] but in the last sector I lost three tenths or four tenths.

“If it wasn’t the last sector I’d be much more on the top, but it’s like that and we have to find a solution for tomorrow. I think we have some margin of improvement on the bike, to be faster.

“I think it’s an interpretation of the corners, how to do the corners in the best way. Maybe I don’t have the ideal interpretation of the speed in those two fast corners. I need to study it with the data.

“[But] One thing is to understand the problem. Another thing is to do it live and resolve the problem. That’s more difficult because you have your own style. But let’s try it for sure. If we improve the bike I improve in all the sectors, but I have also to do work on my side.”

Lorenzo brilliantly rode to victory at the Circuit of Catalunya two weeks ago using Michelin’s soft front and rear tyre compounds. He spent the afternoon session on the same combination, suggesting he could favour that for Sunday’s 26-lap race.

Yet, “For the moment, it’s too soon to have a clear idea for the race. I used the medium rear in the morning that was not so bad. Also the soft I couldn’t make a lot of laps in a row, for some reason. There were a lot of problems in the box, some bike had some problems and I had to go into the pits.

“So [it was] not a complete practice today. But tomorrow for sure I’m going to test the hard rear tyre that offers a similar grip than the medium but with more consistency. Some riders liked it today. Let’s see if it’s good for me. Also the front is still open, the option, so there are a lot of things to try tomorrow.”

One of those 'things' was a chassis evolution. Lorenzo and Dovizioso have one apiece to try over the weekend, but the Majorcan’s chances to provide sound feedback were thwarted on Friday by set-up issues.

“Unfortunately I exited the pits with that [new] chassis and another thing on that bike was not good so I had to go in and could not make a proper test,” he explained. “Andrea did today and he said in some areas he feels a little bit better. Let’s see tomorrow what I will feel.”

An eventful first day, Lorenzo also suffered a fast fall when pitching into turn nine – only his third crash of the year. Asked if it came as a surprise, the five-time world champion said, “No, I wasn’t surprised.

“I was with a medium front. I was one of the only riders who used the medium front at that moment. I braked a little bit later, entered a little bit faster and opened the throttle a little bit earlier. And also on the white line. It was a logical crash. Probably a mistake, or the front was at the limit. I just touched the white line and closed completely, it was impossible to avoid. It was a soft crash so nothing important.”