Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) heads home from Australia feeling positive after the final day of testing at Phillip Island, as the Spaniard made a big step forward on Day 3 to get himself well into the top ten and less than a tenth behind new teammate Andrea Dovizioso on the timesheets.
Some action from #AusTest with @lorenzo99 and @AndreaDovizioso / Alcune immagini dei test appena conclusi a @PICircuit #forzaducati pic.twitter.com/73wbXruaHL
— Ducati Motor (@DucatiMotor) 17 February 2017
Five-time World Champion Lorenzo, whose target for the day was to get below the 1:30s barrier, did so easily with a fastest lap of 1:29.342 to take P8 on the day and on combined times – and believes there could have been another three tenths on offer if he’d tried the soft tyre during the better track conditions of the morning.
Concentrating on adapting to the Ducati, the Borgo Panigale factory’s newest recruit continues getting closer and closer to the top as teammate “DesmoDovi” concentrates more on testing for the season ahead.
JL99, P8: “Today we made a big step forward in our understanding of the bike, just like we did on the third day of testing at Sepang, and the times have been much better. It’s a shame that we weren’t able to test the soft tyre in the morning when there were better track conditions, because I think we could have bettered the laptime by another three tenths. As I keep saying, the important thing isn’t the timesheets, it’s the feeling and understanding how to ride the bike. We still have a lot of work to do, especially in corners to get the bike to turn more, but if we balance out the test in general, we can say we finished it positively.”