Lorenzo: We will try something completely different
Jorge Lorenzo says an experiment with “completely different settings” on one of his Repsol Hondas failed to provide breakthroughs as he continues to adapt to the RC213V at the Spanish MotoGP.
Despite progressing straight into Q2 for the second time this season, Lorenzo saw his qualifying charge halted by a late crash on his final run which has restrained him to 11th place on the grid for the Jerez race.
Jorge Lorenzo says an experiment with “completely different settings” on one of his Repsol Hondas failed to provide breakthroughs as he continues to adapt to the RC213V at the Spanish MotoGP.
Despite progressing straight into Q2 for the second time this season, Lorenzo saw his qualifying charge halted by a late crash on his final run which has restrained him to 11th place on the grid for the Jerez race.
Having shown promising pace in the cooler conditions of FP1 and FP3, the Repsol Honda rider accepts significant setup changes on his second bike didn’t pay off with the expected performance gains. Lorenzo faded to 14th in FP4, with his fastest lap 0.827s slower than team-mate and pace-setter Marc Marquez, but remains hopeful of further setting changes providing the required breakthrough.
“Yesterday I expected to be more competitive, so this morning I did the same lap time as I did at the test with the medium tyre which was good and in the afternoon I had more problems to be competitive,” Lorenzo said. “I still need more experience, especially with the setting of the bike and once the conditions of the track changed I struggled more.
“With the other bike we tried a completely different setting that didn’t work so now we start tomorrow with the same base as this morning. We will try a completely different setting again with the other bike to see and understand if there is a different way to find extra tenths that I need to get closer to Marc who is the fastest one and the strongest one.”
Lorenzo also concedes he’s still trying to mould his riding style to extract the maximum from his Repsol Honda, looking to increase his corner speed to suit his flowing style, and is preparing to try different settings again during Sunday’s warm-up session to find a solution.
“It is true, here in Jerez I am braking quite late but I still don’t feel, in braking, really comfortable,” he said. “I still arrive in the corner too late and I would like to be able to stop before, to be able to lean before and make the corner and finish the corner much quicker and exit faster to make more corner speed.
“We will try some completely different settings and I am sure some of them or one of them will give me something more.”
