ROSSI: WE CAN’T WIN!
Former champ is slow but pleased with his progress on his new Honda
‘If we keep working hard, I’m confident the results will come’
Jorge Lorenzo has finished his first and only preseason outing in Repsol Honda colours happy enough with the progress that he’s made in recovering from a broken wrist, coming away from Qatar slow but happy. Having made solid progress throughout the three days despite admitting that the opening day was a disaster, he says it bodes well for the season even if the first few races will be difficult. Still recovering from a broken scaphoid suffered during a training crash in early January and having missed testing in Sepang, Lorenzo is still not yet fully or acclimatised to the Honda after two years riding a Ducati. But, with three days on track, he’s happy that they’re making progress at last. Lorenzo said: “The first day was difficult but we made improvements and it became quite a bit better. We found a set-up that gave me a lot more confidence in the corners. My position isn’t fantastic but we’re much closer to the fastest guys, so it’s good. My wrist is in pain at the end of every day, but it’s getting better. “We’re trying lots of things to improve the bike and it’s getting closer. My main target is still corner entry, because I don’t have much feeling with the rear tyre there. If we solve that we can make a good step forwards now. “We’re still improving the ergonomics too, so that I fit better on the bike. We’ve still got some work to go there.”
Adding to the challenge is the fact that he’s having to adapt his riding to work around his injuries, while also learning what style the Honda needs.
“You try to do whatever you can not to stress it so much, and stress other parts of your body to ease the pain in the wrist. This will get better, but at the beginning of every day the wrist was OK even if I couldn’t do so many laps in the final hours. Braking hard and at maximum lean angle when you’re off the bike are difficult. This bike is completely different from my last one, and you need to ride it differently. Hopefully it will suit my style better though!”
And although the opening race is now less than two weeks away and the Spaniard is unlikely to be ready to attack at full pace, he’s adamant that he’s now seen enough of the Honda’s potential to know that before too long he can match what he did at Ducati and become a race winner on the RC213V. “Maybe the first races will be difficult, but little by little we will get there. I see the potential in the bike now. The other brands are very competitive, but if we keep working hard then I’m confident that the results will come for us.”