JORGE LORENZO

Lorenzo prefers a clear track so he can work his own magic, but his last lap at Mugello 2016 proved he can fight as hard as anyone

“Obviously, if you have the ability to be faster than the other chaps and escape, then that’s the best thing because you keep the victory safe. But I like the fight, especially if it’s a clean fight and a conscious fight, so the riders overtaking aren’t creating big risks for the other riders.

“It all depends on what you are used to. Some riders are always waiting to follow others in practice, so they are good at following. Others are good at battling because in practice they like to ride with other riders. I usually ride alone in practice, so if I’m alone all Friday and Saturday and then I have to fight in the race, I have to get used to being around other riders. There are many different ways to plan for a race, but I don’t have a problem if I have to fight.

“When you are fighting you are not as free as you are when you’re alone on the track, because you are responsible for the rider in front, because if you make miscalculation on the brakes you may crash into him.

“Some riders aren’t so conscious of what may happen if they make a miscalculation. That’s why Marc so often nearly touched other riders on the brakes during 2013. Then he understood that he needed to be conscious of the risk to the others and he started braking a bit more carefully.

“A lot of it depends on riding technique. My way of riding is to brake not so hard and use more corner-entry speed, so sometimes I struggle against the others with braking. Then there are other riders to brake harder but ride through the corners more slowly and then, maybe, try to exit faster. These riders have greater braking skills. But I have demonstrated that I can be competitive on the brakes, overtake and beat chaps like Marc, Valentino and Casey Stoner.

“I think my most spectacular overtake was at Mugello in 2005, when I was riding a 250 Honda, which wasn’t so fast. Alex De Angelis and Stoner were in front and then Dani came past me on the straight. When we braked for the first corner I overtook Dani, then Alex and, finally, Casey!

“I’m also quite good at seeing a gap on the inside and my faster corner speed can help me use that gap; as when I passed Marc at the last-but-one corner at Silverstone in 2013.

“The best overtake on me? Catalunya 2009. Valentino took a big risk but he had the advantage, because he knew that if he crashed he would make me crash also, so neither of us would have won.”