Reigning MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo has discovered some instability problems with his YZR-M1 on day two of testing at Phillip Island but is still less than a quarter of a second slower than fastest man Maverick Vinales.
Lorenzo believes he had been given a duff rear tyre yesterday and that has caused his difficulties but after runs today at the Australian track, the front end remains problematic and he isn’t able to ride with confidence on the throttle. Lorenzo had to watch as Vinales and Marc Marquez were able to match or better their times from last year set on Bridgestones.
“They were fast because they were not so far from the lap times they made with the Bridgestone. To be honest with the good tyre on the front I didn’t take profit to make a fast lap. I was concentrated on trying many things. When I had the good tyre on the front the rear was new so I couldn’t improve to make a time attack like Marc and Maverick. But they are fast, especially Maverick. He likes the track and he’s riding very well,” aaid Lorenzo, speaking at the track.
“If you compare his performance with Aleix the difference is huge. But anyway for sure it’s his favourite track and this helps him to be quick. Marquez looks like here, he is much stronger than in Sepang. For us it’s the opposite. We have so many problems on the front with stability, to ride with confidence on the throttle. We cannot keep the throttle very open because the front is very unstable in the corner. If we don’t solve this we cannot arrive with the advantage that we had in Sepang.
“Yesterday and this morning we thought it was some Michelin rear tyre that was kind of not good, not completely round. But finally the last three or four tyres were OK I think. It was not the tyre. It was more the combination of the type of track we’re at now, the type of tarmac and the type of corners. They are much faster than Sepang. We have these problems and we have to work on it.
“I’m surprised. For the moment it’s not easy for me to be competitive. If we can solve this problem we can be much quicker. Let’s see if it’s possible to do. Maybe it’s not possible to do and I have to adapt. I have the wish and the hope to improve this problem.
“The tyres make you ride more physical and the electronics is a little bit more unpredictable, less sophisticated. You have to be very careful on the tyre, especially when the tyre start to drop. The tyre start to drop much quicker than last year because the performance of the rear tyre is better. But because it’s better it’s coming down the performance quicker. A combination of less sophisticated electronics and more drop of the rear tyre makes the bike much more physical. Here we are struggling to find stability on the front more so it’s three times more physical.”
