LORENZO SILENCES CRITICS
Spaniard takes breakthrough Ducati win despite plans to leave
New tank helped Lorenzo take victory
Says Ducati should have listened sooner
Jorge Lorenzo stunned the MotoGP world by showing a return his old form in Sunday’s race at Mugello to take an utterly dominant victory. Looking much more like his old Yamaha-mounted self, the five-time world champion led from start to finish to take victory by over six seconds from team-mate Andrea Dovizioso.
The Spaniard has been asking the Italian manufacturer repeatedly to help alter the ergonomics of the Desmosedici to make it easier for him to ride, a request they finally granted for their home race.
The Desmo is a very physical bike and this time around Ducati came up with a modified fuel tank that allowed Lorenzo to exert less energy during the race. He says that it was the key to him winning . While he was clearly elated to take his first win since quitting Yamaha two seasons ago, Lorenzo lashed out at Ducati, saying that he could have won much earlier than 24 races into the project had they simply listened sooner.
He said: “People should have believed in Jorge Lorenzo when the results weren’t so good, and believed in what I said I needed, but not enough people did. I don’t make excuses and I tell the truth, and when Ducati finally make the modification to the bike I could prove myself. I hope that from now on it means that people will believe more in what I say.
“One side of my heart is very happy with this victory but another is sad, because I believe that if I had this before I could say that I could continue with Ducati, but I can’t say that.”
And while that might not be categorical proof that he’s leaving next season, Ducati boss Paolo Ciabatti exclusively told MCN after Sunday’s race that he believes that it’s now too late to salvage a deal that will keep Lorenzo onboard. Ciabatti said: “It seems that most probably our story will end at the end of this year even though we said that we wanted to sit down in the office after this race and assess the situation. It sounds like Jorge has already received some other offers, and he’s almost said that he’s taken that direction. I don’t think there’s a chance of keeping him, but whatever happens we’ll put him in the best possible technical situation to get the best results regardless of what happens in 2019.”
With Lorenzo looking most likely Yamaha-bound (see right), that leaves Pramac Ducati rider Danilo Petrucci to step up to the factory squad, leaving team-mate Jack Miller to inherit his bike alongside rookie Pecco Bagnaia. Both Miller and Petrucci were initially linked to the deal, but the Aussie seems happy to bide his time with Pramac while Dovizioso has expressed a clear preference for his fellow Italian as team-mate.