Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) was the biggest name casualty in Q1 at the Gran Premio Motul de la Republica Argentina, but all is not as the grid position makes it seem. First off, the Majorcan debriefs Q1.
“I think we could have been faster,” he laments. “The problem was I entered the pits to clean up the visor because I didn’t have the feel of the conditions, I had a mosquito I had to try and clean up. During my stop I had a misunderstanding with Christian because I didn’t want to put the soft tyre in but finally we put it in and it was the wrong tyre. I should have been very quick but I was very slow, with very little grip and because of that I lost the possibility to enter Q2.”
That makes it a difficult mountain to climb on Sunday, but as well as a reputation as one of the best starters on the grid, Lorenzo's FP4 pace was second only to reigning Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team).
“Yeah, in the complete wet I was one of the fastest,” he affirms. “Apart from Marquez and some of the Hondas, I was the first Ducati and feeling quite well. With mixed conditions I struggle a little bit more to find the limit of the track, but with the right tyres I think we can be in a good space for tomorrow. If it’s dry we will try to be more competitive.”
There’s Warm Up left to work on set up if Sunday is dry, or the number 99 will be gunning from glory from further back – with some serious pace. The lights go out at 15:00 (GMT -3).