On Track Off Road No.182

Lorenzo’s Return
3rd June, Autodromo del Mugello
Like Jorge Lorenzo or not, there can be
no doubting the Majorcan’s honesty. It’s
rare to hear of elite racers, requiring a
steadfast self-belief and overwhelming
confidence, to talk of depression. But the
31-year old’s outlook wasn’t a positive
one after a lackluster start to the season,
which got a whole lot worse in France.
“It was [a crazy time]. I was almost in
a little depression,” Lorenzo said in a
recent interview with BT Sport. He was
referencing his prospects for securing a
competitive seat for 2019. With Ducati’s
belief in his talents ebbing away, the possibilities
of a switch to Suzuki dispersed.
There remained a far-off chance in a
newly created satellite team. But a man
of his standing surely deserved a factory
working around his requests. “When I
was seeing the possibility to retire, in my
head I was getting depressed,” he said.
Not that you’d have known it from watching
him at Mugello. From the very start
of the weekend, there was the rebuttal of
Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali’s disappointment,
expressed at this “great rider’s”
predicament (“I’m not just a great
rider, but a champion,” he said).
There was then an insistence retirement
was not an option. “I’ll continue for the
next two years … and with a good bike”
(little did we know which good bike).
And that was even before we got to Sunday;
a day which confirmed his genius
on a bike, and underlined the competitive
courage that has been a hallmark
throughout his glittering 16-year stint in
grand prix.
In terms of fighting for the lead, this
wasn’t a thriller. But here was a performance
of the highest level. A change in
how Lorenzo approached each of Mugello’s
15 high-speed, rolling bends was
worked on overnight, and put into practice
in warm-up. Minimising the effects of
front tyre graining effectively staved off
Andrea Dovizioso’s challenge after breaking
clear mid-race. Even his teammate,
only too happy to fire barbs toward the
garage’s opposing side, commended the
approach. “Both tyres he used were really
soft,” opined the Italian. “So to keep that
pace until the end was really difficult.”
You can’t keep a good man down.