Lorenzo: I had quite a lot of pain on the bike
Jorge Lorenzo says his pain became “too much on the bike” which forced him to finish the Misano MotoGP test after just 31 laps for Repsol Honda, as Marc Marquez led the team’s focus on developing its 2020 RC213V.
After completing the British MotoGP on his injury comeback from fractured vertebrae sustained in a heavy crash during practice at Assen in June, Lorenzo had hoped to use the Misano two-day test to regain his bike sharpness and fitness following two months out of action.
Jorge Lorenzo says his pain became “too much on the bike” which forced him to finish the Misano MotoGP test after just 31 laps for Repsol Honda, as Marc Marquez led the team’s focus on developing its 2020 RC213V.
After completing the British MotoGP on his injury comeback from fractured vertebrae sustained in a heavy crash during practice at Assen in June, Lorenzo had hoped to use the Misano two-day test to regain his bike sharpness and fitness following two months out of action.
But by the end of the morning session on the first day, Lorenzo and his Repsol Honda team agreed to withdraw from the rest of the MotoGP test due to the pain he was suffering from his back as he preferred to focus on being “in the best condition possible” for the Misano MotoGP round in two weeks’ time.
“Unfortunately I didn’t feel great and I had quite a lot of pain on the bike, even more than in Silverstone,” Lorenzo said. “We were able to make 20 laps in Silverstone and everyone was very pleased, but it took a lot of effort from me physically and I had some more inflammation and pain after the race.
“It improved a bit, but I am still hurting too much on the bike so we decided together with the team to finish the test early and to arrive at the Misano race in the best condition possible. Even with the limited running we were able to try some new parts like the chassis.”
With Marquez shouldering the bulk of the development work, the reigning MotoGP world champion notched up 168 laps across the two-day test working on both his 2019 bike and 2020 development parts.
Ending the test 10th fastest overall, having not opted for a qualifying-style run, Marquez says he was content with the progress made while remaining tight-lipped on the specific 2020 parts focused on.
“It was quite a busy test for us as we are already starting to work for 2020,” Marquez said. “First of all we did a bit of work for the end of the 2019 season to make sure we can finish it in a good way. Then we moved to trying some components for 2020.
“Overall it was a good test and we worked well and in a precise way to get the most out of our time on track. I was feeling good with the bike over these two days so we were able to understand a lot.”
HRC test rider Stefan Bradl was also in action at the Misano test assisting with 2020 developments, while LCR Honda duo Cal Crutchlow and Takaaki Nakagami completed the two-day test with the British rider chipping in on the HRC work.
MotoGP now takes a short break before returning to Misano for the San Marino MotoGP on 13-15 September.
