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MotoGP Assen: Lorenzo to focus on last sector speed

Jorge Lorenzo said it is too early to say if he will be able to say if will be able to run a soft front and rear for this Sunday’s MotoGP at Assen after trying the combination out today.

The Spaniard won his second consecutive race last time out in Barcelona by managing his tyres perfectly after electing to use the soft compound tyres on both the front and rear of his GP18.

Lorenzo tried that combination out once again today in Assen, although he said it was too early to tell if he will be able to use that again come Sunday.

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“It’s too soon to have a clear idea for the race,” said Lorenzo who ended the day of free practice seventh fastest overall, just under half a second off of Maverick Vinales’ fastest time.

“I used the medium rear in the morning and that wasn’t so bad. On the soft I couldn’t do a lot of laps in a row, for some reason. There were a lot of problems in the box, some bike had some problems and I had to go into the pits.

“So, not a complete practice today. But tomorrow I’m going to test the hard rear tyre that offers a similar grip than the medium but with more consistency. Some riders liked it today. Let’s see if it’s good for me.

“Also the front is still open, the option, so there are a lot of things to try tomorrow.”

Despite ending the day seventh fastest and nearly half a second behind Vinales, the Ducati rider was confident and said that he and his team need to find a solution for the final sector of the track where he was losing all his time.

“Well, apart from the last sector I’m one of the fastest riders,” he said. “I was always red but in the last sector I lost three tenths or four tenths. If it wasn’t the last sector I’d be much more on top, but it’s like that and we have to find a solution for tomorrow.

“I think we have some margin of improvement on the bike, to go faster. I think it’s an interpretation of the corners, how to do the corners in the best way. Maybe I don’t have the ideal interpretation of the speed in those two fast corners. I need to study it with the data.

“One thing is to understand the problem. Another thing is to do it live and resolve the problem. That’s more difficult because you have your own style. But let’s try it for sure. If we improve the bike I improve in all the sectors, but I have also to do work on my side.”

A new pieces that could help Lorenzo tomorrow is the new chassis that Ducati have been working on. Lorenzo said that he had some difficulties with the new piece on his bike, but that Dovizioso had said it’s better in some areas of the circuit.

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“Unfortunately I exited the pits with that chassis and another thing on, the bike was not good, so I had to go in and couldn’t do a proper test. Andrea did today and he said in some areas he feels a little bit better. Let’s see tomorrow what I will feel,” he said.

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