Lorenzo: “We made a mistake on the settings”

The Spaniard finished P6 at the Sachsenring after leading in the opening stages, but his drop in pace wasn’t due to his soft front tyre...

Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) took the checkered flag in sixth place at the Pramac Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland after being the only rider to opt for the soft front tyre compound in the 30-lap race.

However, Lorenzo wasn’t losing time at the German GP because of his front tyre choice, as many would have expected. “It’s a pity because I was feeling very competitive when I have rear grip, but unfortunately all weekend we tried to improve the front grip and we lost grip on the rear, trying to improve this lack of front grip we normally have on the Ducati,” explained the five-time World Champion.

“But we went too much in that direction. The second part of the race was very bad when the rear tyre started to drop, I started losing one second of the pace and that’s when everyone started to overtake me and we lost a lot of positions. We made a mistake on the settings so in the next races we will try and not do the same.”

So, it was the lack of rear grip from the medium tyre compound that was effecting the number 99, not the soft front. “The front was ok, I was one of the only riders who can use the soft and be competitive so for the moment it’s working well,” commented Lorenzo, who sits sixth in the Championship as we head into the summer break. But what does the Italian and Catalan GP winner think of the season so far and what we can expect from him and the Ducati in the second half of 2018?

“Well we’ve come through two difficult races in Assen and here, especially the Sachsenring, but all the Ducati riders made a nice weekend, even if we didn’t get a podium. So now I think we arrive at good tracks for us, so I think we are going to have fun.”

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