Lorenzo ‘less competitive than expected’

Jorge Lorenzo believes a radical set-up change is in order ahead of qualifying day to boost his speed after a “difficult” opening to MotoGP free practice at Brno in which he encountered a variety of issues.

The three-time premier class champion complained of a lack of traction, cornering ability and confidence under braking at the end of Friday, a day in which he could place no higher than 15^th in FP2.

His Ducati technicians had experimented with the GP18’s weight distribution, he said, after changes at Assen and the Sachsenring had left him chasing rear grip in the closing laps of both races.

But those changes failed to work. Lorenzo didn’t fit a new tyre toward the end of the afternoon session, but still, he felt his pace was below that of what was expected around a track at which he has won on two occasions.

“Today honestly has been a difficult day,” said the 31-year old. “We have been less competitive that we expected. We expected here to have less troubles than the Sachsenring for example but we got even more for the moment.

“We came back a little bit to the setting of Mugello and Montmeló because for two races we tried to change the weight [distribution] of the bike and put more front weight. Finally it was a mistake because at the end of the race I lost so much grip on the rear and now we come back a little bit to the Mugello and Montmeló setting.

“For this track it looks like we need to try a completely different setting, a radical setting to today to find which is the way to follow because now we are quite far from the top guys. Maybe not the 15^th position because I didn’t put in a new tyre like a lot of the other riders but neither did the top three.”

What did he feel was missing? “Almost everything,” he sighed. “Almost everything because in the last races I braked very hard, very late. Now I’m not braking that late and I’m not carrying good corner speed. I’m not having good traction. I’m losing almost everywhere. So in general I need more grip in the front and especially the rear.”

Was the punishing heat a factor in this lack of feel? “I guess for everyone,” he said. “In general we are quite slow, knowing that the bikes are better this year. The times are a little slower than last year. We are quite far from the record of the track. The track is very hot, very warm. The tarmac looks more bumpy, probably.”

Lorenzo also said he expects to try Ducati’s new aerodynamic fairing that was homologated for Danilo Petrucci to use on Friday. The Pramac runner said the feature had “almost no negatives,” leading factory men Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso to state they would more than likely test it in FP3.

“Good information that he gave to you,” said Lorenzo. “As you said he tried a new fairing and tomorrow we’re probably going to test it in the morning. I don’t expect a big improvement but if we can improve so small details it would be welcome for us.”