Reigning MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo has all but given up on retaining his crown this year and now says he will focus on challenging Valentino Rossi for second.
The Movistar Yamaha man has struggled with wet races and the switch to Michelin tyres in 2016, unable to find the front-end feel he had with Bridgestone so now looks forward to his Ducati debut at Valencia.
“This year it’s possible but very complicated, almost impossible. We should have a lot of luck and Marquez should be very unlucky. For the points, I think we have much more chance to finish trying to fight for the second place than winning the Championship,” said the Spaniard.
“I really think that with the same rules as last year we would have more or less at least the same consistency of the riders as last year, but I think the consistency of the riders in a high percentage is because of the tyres.
“When you lose the front tyre is very difficult to recover and not crash. Maybe 90 per cent of the time that you lose the front you crash, while last year was the opposite.
“That’s the reason why riders are making more mistakes, are making more zeros during the Championship. Marquez still crashed so many times but just in the practice - in the race he always finishes the race and this together with so many mistakes of the Yamaha riders means he is in front of the championship with a lot of points of advantage.
“Especially for me, with the Bridgestone I was competitive, more or less in all the conditions, in all the tracks. But with the Michelin wet front tyre, from the first moment I tried it on the preseason, I felt the tyre was very soft and gives you the feeling that it’s very hard.”