Analysis – MotoGP Valencia GP – Lorenzo (retirement): “If we had caught Zarco and Pedrosa, I would certainly have let Dovizioso pass” –

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MotoGP Valencia GP – Lorenzo (retirement): "If we had caught up with Zarco and Pedrosa, I would have certainly let Dovizioso pass"

Analysis - MotoGP Valencia GP - Lorenzo (retirement):

Victim of a fall during the Valencia GP while trying to catch up with the leading group, Jorge Lorenzo finished the 2017 season in 7th place behind Zarco. Explaining why he did not follow the instructions of his team, the Ducati rider assures us that he was trying to "tow" his teammate towards the head of the race. MNC Statements and Analysis.

Jorge Lorenzo, Ducati Team (4th in qualifying, retirement in the race and 7th in the championship) : "Nobody wants to end the season with a crash, but apart from this retirement I think we can be happy with the end of the championship. In Malaysia and here in Valencia we fought for the podium and it’s like we have to start next season. I attacked thoroughly throughout the race to try to catch up with the leading group and towards the end I had to take a lot of risks: the front was giving way, especially in the right turns, and at the end I lost control and couldn’t avoid the crash ".

  • Valencia GP : 
  • Valencia GP : 
  • Valencia GP : 

“At the halfway point, when Andrea was behind me, I analyzed the situation and thought it was better to try to tow him to the leading group. If we had caught Zarco and Pedrosa I would have it. certainly let it go. But I offer him my congratulations because this year he has really had a fantastic season ".

Analysis - MotoGP Valencia GP - Lorenzo (retirement):

  • Valencia GP – 
  • Valencia GP – 
  • Valencia GP – 
  • Valencia GP – 

MNC analysis : Three podiums including a second place in as the best result … Jorge Lorenzo’s first season at Ducati is clearly below the – expensive – expectations placed on the three-time MotoGP world champion. After nine seasons with Yamaha (from 2008 to 2016) fighting for the supreme title, the Mallorcan is for the first time reduced to the role of outsider in the premier class. Hard.

Analysis - MotoGP Valencia GP - Lorenzo (retirement):

However, that Lorenzo would need time to tame the scorching GP17 was highly predictable. Nobody is going to throw stones at him about it, and especially not his former teammate Valentino Rossi who broke his teeth in 2011 and 2012 while trying to meet the same challenge. !

In fact, if Andrea Dovizioso had not had such a good season – fighting head to foot with Marquez until the final in Valencia – Jorge Lorenzo could have even considered himself satisfied with his first year with the Reds. After all, how many pilots has the Desmosedici crushed in the past, leaving them perplexed in the gravel after a brutal stall of its recalcitrant front end ?

Except that the context has changed … and the formidable Italian too: thanks to the inspired technical director Luigi Dall’Igna, the GP17 has become a motorcycle capable of playing in front in all conditions. The proof with the six victories of Dovizioso (as many as Marquez!), To which are added the four podiums of Danilo Petrucci on his private GP17 Pramac, the Italian even passing close to the feat in the wet to then to !

Analysis - MotoGP Valencia GP - Lorenzo (retirement):

In this, Lorenzo failed to take advantage of the potential at his disposal. Can we blame him? Not really. At least not yet! His second season will be more revealing: the five-time Grand Prix world champion – more at ease and offensive during the last races – will have to be at the forefront in 2018, because Ducati will only dream of the title after having grazed it. thanks to Andrea Dovizioso !

Finally 7th in the world championship 37 points behind Johann Zarco (137 against 174), Jorge Lorenzo will have many months of work and reflection to don this favorite costume in which Ducati demands to see him quickly enter. It remains to be seen if the whole team will stand behind him to help him….

Lorenzo condemned to win in 2018 … and to be forgiven at Ducati ?

Some members may indeed find it difficult to forgive him for not letting Dovizioso pass who was following him, as Ducati asked him repeatedly through the intermediary of electronic messages on his dashboard and via his signage. . And this even if "Dovi" took advantage of this situation to drive with more "fluidity".

Analysis - MotoGP Valencia GP - Lorenzo (retirement):

The controversy is nonetheless very intense around the attitude of Lorenzo, who has deliberately chosen to ignore the instructions of his team at the risk of compromising the last title chances of his teammate and the manufacturer of Bologna.. 

“Unlike Sepang, I saw the messages on the dashboard,” explains Lorenzo, referring to the “Mapping 8” inscription launched several times from the boxes by his team on his instrumentation. "But I chose to keep pushing until the end, because I knew it was the best thing for me, for Ducati and for Dovi".

Assuring that he would have stepped aside in favor of Dovi if he had managed to bring back the leading group or if Marquez had fallen, Lorenzo insists that his analysis was perfectly appropriate: "I am satisfied because I was right and they confirm my thoughts ".

  • Dovizioso (abandonment) : "Finally it was positive that Lorenzo was in front of me"
  • [Video] Valencia GP: 
  • [Video] Valencia GP: 

"I don’t care what people think, because I did what I think was right," "Jorgueil" is annoyed when he is objected that his tactics involved many uncertainties. How to know for example what would have happened if Dovizioso had taken his place at the halfway point, thus putting additional pressure on a very feverish Marc Marquez who has ?

The attitude of Jorge Lorenzo, if it is absolutely not to be condemned on a strictly sporting level – MotoGP is not a team sport! – despite everything remains questionable from a human point of view. It’s hard not to see a manifestation of selfishness on the part of the Mallorcan, who preferred to play his all-out towards the podium and finally ended up on the ground… 

Some will even see a form of parallel with, which still continues to divide opinions.

"I’m not stupid, I know exactly what to do in this kind of scenario," said the n ° 99 in defense. Why then not have obeyed the instructions? If the situation had been reversed, there is no doubt that Dovizioso would have eclipsed himself with the elegance that characterizes him….

General classification of the MotoGP World Championship 2017

  1. Marc MARQUEZ Honda SPA (298 points)
  2. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati ITA (261 points)
  3. Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha SPA (230 points)
  4. Dani PEDROSA Honda SPA (210 points)
  5. Valentino ROSSI Yamaha ITA (208 points)
  6. Johann ZARCO Yamaha FRA (174 points)
  7. Jorge LORENZO Ducati SPA (137 points)
  8. Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati ITA (124 points)
  9. Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda GBR (112 points)
  10. Jonas FOLGER Yamaha GER (84 points)
  11. Jack MILLER Honda AUS (82 points)
  12. Alvaro BAUTISTA Ducati SPA (75 points)
  13. Andrea IANNONE Suzuki ITA (70 points)
  14. Scott REDDING Ducati GBR (64 points)
  15. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia SPA (62 points)
  16. Alex RINS Suzuki SPA (59 points)
  17. Pol ESPARGARO KTM SPA (55 points)
  18. Loris BAZ Ducati FRA (45 points)
  19. Tito RABAT Honda SPA (35 points)
  20. Karel ABRAHAM Ducati CZE (32 points)
  21. Bradley SMITH KTM GBR (29 points)
  22. Hector BARBERA Ducati SPA (28 points)
  23. Michele PIRRO Ducati ITA (25 points)
  24. Mika KALLIO KTM FIN (11 points)
  25. Sam LOWES Aprilia GBR (5 points)
  26. Katsuyuki NAKASUGA Yamaha JPN (4 points)
  27. Sylvain GUINTOLI Suzuki FRA (1 point)
  28. Michael VAN DER MARK Yamaha NED
  29. Takuya TSUDA Suzuki JPN
  30. Hiroshi AOYAMA Honda JPN
  31. Broc PARKES Yamaha AUS

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