Repsol Honda Team’s Jorge Lorenzo hasn’t finished with trying out the new parts he brought back from his trip the HRC headquarters in Japan after the Italian GP. The Spaniard debuted some new items at the Catalan GP, including a modified fuel tank, but, prior to the Motul TT Assen, he confirmed that he has even more to try this weekend, including a brand-new fairing.
The five-time World Champion looked like he was back to his best at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya after a storming opening couple of laps saw him rise from the fourth row of the grid up to fourth place. The now infamous Catalan crash then took place, but that early race pace was another sign that Lorenzo is slowly but surely closing in on regularly being a podium contender on the factory Honda.
“I don’t know the future so it’s a new track, a new weekend, anything can happen but hopefully the feeling will be good from the start,” said The Spartan. “We’ll try to continue this better feeling I’m having with the bike, including the new pieces that we will use this weekend – more pieces than at the Catalan GP. So, hopefully with a little bit from here and a little bit from there we can be closer to the top guys.”
Lorenzo went on to confirm what exactly he will be trying this weekend, fresh from a busy post-Catalan GP test where he tested a new aero package, a new belly pan, a carbon reinforced chassis and a new fairing, which he says it looks likely he will use in FP1 tomorrow morning.
“We will have here probably a new fairing. We’re waiting for confirmation but probably tomorrow we’ll use a new fairing to give me a little bit more support. Plus, some other little things. The parts are one part of this process [referring to the trip to Japan], this idea that I had. For the moment, it looks like it is only for me that will use it.”
Resilience: Ability to cope with the adversities of life, to transform pain into a driving force to overcome and emerge strengthened by them. A resilient person understands that he is the architect of his own joy and his own destiny. pic.twitter.com/TwPs7gLsP6
— Jorge Lorenzo (@lorenzo99) June 18, 2019
Despite the positive vibe surrounding the number 99 at the moment, it was damped ever so slightly by a big crash at the Catalunya test. The factory Honda man tucked the front on the way into the super-fast right kink of Turn 9 and admitted in the hours after that he was lucky not to have broken any bones. As a result, he says he’s not at full fitness for this weekend due to the fact he’s still feeling the effects of that crash.
“It was a big crash and after it I was very sore, a little bit on my chest and then in my back. Luckily, I could finish the test and try all the things that we had to test, not in the best condition though. Here I feel better but still a little bit sore. Hopefully I will recover and be completely fit in Germany.”
Keep a close eye on the Repsol Honda Team garage door opening tomorrow morning ahead of the first MotoGP™ Free Practice session with another big development on Lorenzo’s bike breaking cover. Plus, what else, aside from the confirmed fairing, has Lorenzo still got to debut from his trip to Japan?