Why No Discussion About Le Mans At The Weekend ?

Yamaha seem to have struggled since he left. They were on fire for the start of the 2017 season, just after Lorenzo departed, with Vinales running away with it in pre season and the 1st couple of races. You could argue that Lorenzo developed this bike. Rossi and Lorenzo were 2nd & 3rd in he 2016 season, only beaten by the incredible Marquez.

They have gone steadily backwards ever since, with their last win being Assen in June 2017, almost a year ago.

Lorenzo not a good development rider?

 

I hope they stick with him myself. I believe their faith would be rewarded.

Petrucci, Miller et all aren't going to win Ducati a championship.

 

Don’t disagree, although heart says I’d rather see someone that displays a bit of passion and heart on the bike than someone who always seems rather cold and aloof.

 

That's interesting Rob. How long will it take though? There are various riders that are going faster than Lorenzo at the moment on the same or lesser bikes. Dovi, Petrucci, Miller overtook him this weekend. Iannone would have been faster if he was still on a Ducati...as opposed to being on a Suzuki or in the gravel or both.

It's a well established pattern now, out in front at the start and work your way back to a lowly eighth while others make the same bike go faster.

The big question is why is that bike not fast enough mid corner? How long does it take to make it fast mid corner?
I'm surprised that's not sorted by now. It's obviously more difficult than I can understand. Why aren't massive resources going into that?

Every fortnight I really hope Lorenzo is going to come through. Every fortnight he disappoints me and gets in the way. At the moment he's part of the problem not part of the solution.

Then you add to that Marquez on a much improved bike. No wonder all the rest don't even look like championship contenders. He's just in a different league.

Things can change though.

 

Motomatters has done some good articles on this, essentially there are a number of small elements that include an engine that last year was too aggressive on initial throttle touch due to the crank inertia, it meant the font get's 'pushed' as soon as they open the throttle. The other reasons seem to be around the engineers wanting to improve turning without loosing some of the bikes strengths which are the braking stability and drive off corners which I understand isn't as simple as it having a ton of power.

I don't really understand how they will find that last little bit tbh but the bike certainly seems so much more usable than it did, gone are all those Rossi crashes where the second he touched the brake he just got face planted, seems the bike is a heap more predictable.

I think Lorenzo can develop, but only towards his style, which is okay on the Yamaha and certainly should work on the Suzuki but I don't believe it will at Ducati.

 

To get the excitement back up, Marquez needs to be on an Aprilia or KTM. Now that would be good for the sport.
As it is, it is becoming very very predictable, boring and similar to F1.

 

I just don't see the point in changing Sam. Nobody absolutely stands out that would make sense, for me.

What are Iannone, Miller, Petrucci going to do on that bike? Not much different from what they are doing at the moment in my opinion, which isn't going to win many races, never mind a championship. Zarco is looking fantastic, but is signed up.

Lorenzo is a class act, who is struggling on this bike. They just need to keep working their way through it. The issue is being compounded by the fact that Dovi started winning on the thing last year, which is making Lorenzo look bad.

It's a hard one to call on what Ducati will do. They wanted to keep Rossi, but he had had enough and knew he wasn't going to win his much vaunted 10th title with Ducati. They had a similar situation when they were too quick to dump Cal for Iannone who was doing well on a satellite Ducati. What did it gain them? Nothing, I would argue. Cal had a tough time initially with Honda and LCR, but they persisted, and you could argue now that they are reaping their rewards.

Personally, I'd like to see Lorenzo become a race winner on the bike. He doesn't moan on in the press about the bike. He must be frustrated at 2 prime years of his career counting for nothing and be giving serious consideration to what he does next. If Ducati decide to stick with him, and him with them, that deserves huge credit on his behalf.

As for Marquez. It's pretty academic for the rest of the field at the moment. He's untouchable and will contimue to be so imo.

 

We don’t see behind the scenes. Is Jlo ‘trying’ and putting in the effort to sort the issues? Changing his riding style? Working on his feedback with the team?

Or always doing what he’s alsways done, the bike will have to suit him.

 

Largely due to Rossi being reminded once again who’s boss these days. It was very interesting early on with MM on a hard rear. Then he decided to spank them all again. He really is a once in a lifetime rider. If he stays fit he’ll clean up for years.

 

Well I would hope that MotoGP learns from F1 that you really don’t want ageing autocrats in charge of what should be a young and vibrant sport.

 

You know what, it's an interesting argument you put forward. There's something different seeing things live. At Jerez Lorenzo looked fantastic. He was out there first at every practice, every opportunity. His starts are amazing but working his way down the field before half the race is done, is more than a tyre thing. I think it's partly the bike mid corner and partly his head/confidence.

We had dinner with the MCN MotoGP reporter on the Saturday night before the race. His take was that Lorenzo to Suzuki was an almost dead cert. The bike looks like it would suit him better.

Ducati say they'll announce at Mugello. Whatever happens something has to improve.

It can't come soon enough.

 

Just read on Twitter that Lorenzo has pissed Suzuki off and that he’s got two races to prove his worth to Ducati.

Could a five time world champion be without a ride next year ?

 

It's not a site I normally use but it had an odd suggestion on it
https://www.gpone.com/en/blog/paolo-scalera/2018/05/22/yamaha-saving-rider-lorenzo.html

 

http://pecinogp.com/jorge-lorenzo-faces-the-toughest-challenge-of-his-sporting-career/