Reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo tried a three-tyre strategy for MotoGP qualifying today at Jerez but was left angry as he said the second tyre didn’t perform as it should, so he lost a potential pole lap to his rivals.
The Movistar Yamaha man was still able to take second place on the front two but feels he was denied the chance to for a triple chance at taking the top spot.
“With this tyre at the moment, it is difficult to make the fast laptime first try out but I tried three tyres as I was competitive in my first lap in other weekends, while the rest of the riders choose two tyres. It was a pity the second tyre was no good, it was vibrating on the rear and no grip in the corners so I have to cancel the lap but luckily the third tyre was good,” said Lorenzo, speaking at the track.
“I was angry with my second tyre because when you choose a strategy of three tyres and one of them fail you, you just have only two laps to make the laptime. This rear Michelin tyre need time to warm up doesn’t give you so many opportunities to make the fast lap.
“Anyway I think it was a great laptime, I lose a little too much in sector three, three-tenths compared with Rossi but it happens. Sometimes, someone goes faster than you but anyway, I was mainly angry with the tyre as that can unfocus you a little bit and you can’t get the maximum in the last minutes.”
Lorenzo is able to get the best from the Michelin tyres on his first flying lap while the competition take longer to get the rubber up to temperature, so Lorenzo gambled on a two-stop strategy.
“My style is going fast from the beginning, I have this facility and try to take profit from it. Without this, I would choose to use two tyres in the qualifying today but I have this temptation to try three tyres as I was able to warm up them up better than the rest, so I choose this strategy. Maybe we have to rethink this at other tracks.”
