Lorenzo: Little step away from podium
Jorge Lorenzo believes Ducati’s development progress at the Circuit de Catalunya test means the podium could be in reach at his team’s home round at Mugello.
The five-time world champion is facing sustained pressure on his place at Ducati, with the team’s sporting director Paolo Ciabatti admitting “it’s pointless to go on… if it doesn’t work”, having seen teammate Andrea Dovizioso secure a new deal with the Italian manufacturer last time out at Le Mans.
Jorge Lorenzo believes Ducati’s development progress at the Circuit de Catalunya test means the podium could be in reach at his team’s home round at Mugello.
The five-time world champion is facing sustained pressure on his place at Ducati, with the team’s sporting director Paolo Ciabatti admitting “it’s pointless to go on… if it doesn’t work”, having seen teammate Andrea Dovizioso secure a new deal with the Italian manufacturer last time out at Le Mans.
Lorenzo is considered an outsider to keep hold of the remaining factory ride behind the likes of Danilo Petrucci and Jack Miller, with speculation pointing to a potential exit for the Spaniard, but the 31-year-old is focusing on turning around his form to kick-start his campaign after a tough start to 2018.
The Spanish rider led the opening laps of the last two rounds at Jerez and Le Mans but has struggled to deliver, his late fade to sixth place at Le Mans representing his best result of the campaign so far.
Having complained about problems with controlling his GP18 with a high fuel load due to the shape of the fuel tank, Lorenzo feels progress enjoyed at the recent private test at the resurfaced Circuit de Catalunya gives him a confidence boost thanks to development pushes arriving at Mugello with a strong MotoGP record. Lorenzo has won five of the previous seven Italian MotoGP races, all with Yamaha, and is optimistic of fighting back this weekend.
“I come to the Italian GP with a lot of enthusiasm to score a good result that confirms the right direction in which we’ve been working recently,” Lorenzo said. “We are not far away from fighting for the podium, and we only need another little step forward to be really competitive: I think that we can do it at Mugello.
“Last week’s Barcelona test went really well and we’ll have something new here to improve the ergonomics of my bike, which I think can help me be more consistent throughout the race.
“Mugello is a special place, one of my favourite circuits and I’ve got a lot of great memories at this track. I’m ready and really excited about this weekend.”
