Lorenzo opts for “evolution” 2018 Ducati frame

Jorge Lorenzo has backed Ducati’s 2018 modified frame having verified performance gains during Friday practice at Le Mans from the recent private Mugello test.

The Ducati rider says he will stick to using the “evolution” 2018 Ducati GP18 bike chassis as it provides better feeling during cornering while also giving greater stability over bumps.

The three-time MotoGP world champion sneaked into the provisional Q2 spots in 10^th place after the second free practice ahead of the French round at Le Mans with his best lap time over six-tenths of a second off Ducati teammate and timesheet-topper Andre Dovizioso.

Lorenzo feels his single lap pace was somewhat thwarted by incorrect set-up tweaks during his fresh soft tyre run at the end of FP2 which failed to provide significant gains but is content with the progress made on the new chassis which he trialled at the recent Mugello test.

“It is different from the other one,” Lorenzo said about the second GP18 chassis. “It improves the feeling in the corner and the middle of the corner plus it helps with the bumps better. It doesn’t change so much but it is better so we are going to keep it.

“Even if it is fine this weekend it will be difficult because we don’t have two new chassis so it is difficult now to make the [like-for-like] comparisons and to make changes on the bike. From Mugello we will have two chassis so it will be easier to try different settings.”

Despite failing to find satisfactory lap time gains due to set-up switches, Lorenzo is still optimistic with Ducati’s progress and feels he can be at a similar level to Jerez where he initially led the race before battling for podium places against Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa until all three tangled and crashed out.

“I could only improve by three-tenths with the new tyres when normally we improve by more than half a second,” he said. “Let’s see tomorrow if we can get on to the first or second rows, that will be great for Sunday’s race.

“We are more or less at the same point as we were in Jerez so that is a positive feeling.”