Lorenzo: “We again tried the new chassis”

A steady start to proceedings for Jorge Lorenzo at the Motul TT Assen, not rushing for a fast time in cool conditions.

Free Practice 1 and 2 could very well be the lone dry sessions of the Motul TT Assen, rain predicted to fall on Saturday and Sunday. This meant that ending the day inside the top ten, and thus securing a ticket into Q2, was especially important as the wet can throw up all sorts of surprising results. Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) will not have to worry about the weather during Free Practice 3, a 1’33.991 in the second session of the day saw the World Champion lock himself into fifth overall.

"We are still missing something, especially in T4"

Both sessions had Lorenzo swapping between his two YZR-M1s, each fitted with a slightly different chassis. In Assen the difference between the two frames was not as big as before, Lorenzo needing more time to understand the situation. To the naked eye the two versions are almost identical, the newer one making its debut at the Barcelona test. Be the differences big or small, Lorenzo’s previous Assen demons look to be banished as the Spaniard was comfortably inside top six in both sessions. Can he make it back to back podiums in Assen for the first time since 2010?

Jorge Lorenzo, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP, Motul TT Assen

Jorge Lorenzo: “Today we again tried the new chassis on a different track. In Montmeló I felt quite a big difference, here I didn’t feel it so much so I need one more day to understand if it’s also better here. It’s been a difficult day, but at least we practiced in dry conditions. We are still missing something, especially in T4 and I also don’t completely like how the bike is working, so we are going to try to change the setting for tomorrow. We are not far behind, but I would like to have some more speed.