Lorenzo sets ‘30 seconds goal’ for Aragon

He may have put a brave face on his showing in Sunday’s MotoGP outing at Misano, but Jorge Lorenzo’s words indicated how far away he remains from where he needs to be. Here the positive mentioned was finishing “closer to the fastest [riders].”

The ‘closer’ in question was than his performance at Silverstone, where he came home 56 seconds behind race winner Alex Rins. Here he was 47 seconds back of Marc Marquez at the chequered flag, some way off the ’30 second’ goal he set himself.

“It was worse than expected,” he conceded with his later declaration that the goal for next Sunday’s race at Aragon was “hopefully … we can be closer to 30 seconds [behind the winner]” indicative of where he is at.

Lorenzo’s physical condition was improved when compared to Silverstone. But in the afternoon Italian heat he was regularly one and a half seconds slower than the leaders per lap as he struggled with front end feel.

“Well the positive is the distance from the fastest,” said the 32-year old. “We went from one second to two seconds depending on the practice. In some sessions we were closer. In others not so much.

“In Silverstone I expected much less than I got in the race. Here was the opposite. I expected to be finish closer to the win, 30 seconds as the best and 40 seconds as the worst.

“But I finished 47 seconds [behind]. It was worse than I expected but in general the feelings were better physically than Silverstone and I was closer to the middle of the grid and closer to the fastest [riders].

“Positive but we are going to try and make another step in Aragon just in four days. But especially I want to arrive stronger for the Asian tour.”

Was he in as much pain as he was after the British Grand Prix? “Much less,” he stated. “After the Silverstone race I was in pain. It was very painful to even to walk. Now I am in pain but better than three weeks ago. On the bike I could push more.

“Unfortunately with this lack of grip after Moto2, this heat, I struggled to stop the bike a lot. I don’t know if I made the right choice with the tyres. I chose them because I had a better feeling with them but in the race it was really difficult to stop the bike.

“It took a lot of energy and the bike didn’t stop. I had to brake before than in practice. I couldn’t get the pace that I wanted. I wanted to be in the 1m 38s high. But I never reached that. It was getting worse, worse and worse. Those in front of me were getting away.

“So 47 seconds, more than I expected but less than in Silverstone. So hopefully in Aragon we can be closer to these 30 seconds that is my goal before pushing more my physical condition.”

On whether he has set a time frame on his recovery, Lorenzo added, “I don’t know. I think I will not make a huge improvement suddenly in just one race. I think it’s going to be progressive improvements. I hope to be stronger in Aragon.

“But especially in this gap of weeks from Aragon to Thailand will give me the opportunity to recover but also train more in the gym and lift more weights to gain power in my muscles. Until now I could just increase the weights in the gym but not so much.

“Because of the injury and the lack of rhythm and the physical condition, I struggle more for a long race. But also it’s true when the grip is low and I don’t feel the front, losing the rear and losing the front. I have more gap.

“Let’s try and improve, especially the pace that is the most important thing.”