So far, Jorge Lorenzo has had a tough year aboard his new Ducati. One podium and a fourth place finish are the highlights, but there are plenty of lowlights leaving Lorenzo 9th in championship points … hopelessly out of the race for the title.
A silver lining? Plenty of observers think Lorenzo may be close to a breakthrough, including rival Marc Marquez (Honda), who currently leads the championship. When the second half of the series begins in 10 days at Brno, Lorenzo has another chance to redeem his rookie year on the Italian machine. Quoted on Motorsport.com, Marquez said the following about his rival:
“I already said at the beginning of the year that Jorge could get on the podium and even win some races, and I still think that he will win some this year.” predicted Marquez “To be able to fight for a title, you have to know a lot about the bike and the equipment, and everything has to be 100 percent. There, in the consistency, is where he is lacking.”
What do you think? Can Lorenzo win more than one race in the remainder of the 2017 series?
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“To be able to fight for a title, you have to know a lot about the bike and the equipment, and everything has to be 100 percent.”
Says the guy who went straight from Moto 2 to a completely different class of bike, never mind the specific bike, that he’d never ridden, and proceeded to win the title his first two years in the series.
Comedy.
Anywaaaaaaay, what #93 is trying to say is, “Lorenzo is my bud and all, so I’ll pretend to be supportive and say something nice about him here, which is no skin off my back since he’s no threat to me. ‘Kayso, he’s a good rider and whatsuch, at least when everything is exactly the way he likes it, but a Ducati ain’t a Yamaha, and he sure ain’t yours truly, if you get my drift (pun intended). Truth? Adaptability, thy name is not ‘Jorge.'”
Perfectly said ..
Ducatis are good in the wet so that would his chance, but he’s terrible in that condition and many other Ducs would arrive before him.
I think in Spanish that would be “‘Queso,…”
re: “Comedy.”
ooh so close…
NATCORK. (hint, it’s what all the “cool kids” are doing)
NATCORK doesn’t apply here, or none of the Ducatis would be going well, least of all Dovi on what is essentially an identical bike. When Danilo Petrucci is also kicking your ass on a regular basis on a less well-funded version of the same bike you’re riding, it’s probably more you than the bike.
re: “NATCORK doesn’t apply here”
NATCORK applies EVERYWHERE…
(in the Universe)
it is iron-clad LAW, which means even when such time you start riding/racing motorbikes on Mars you will NOT escape it.
Do not rule out Jorge. Marquez is far better at assessing talent then any one of us that’s for sure.
The Ducati & JL recipe has yielded exactly what I thought it would, not much. Why anyone who has watched the sport since JL has been in the premier class thinks otherwise is a mystery to me. He has been, and still is, a rider that is extremely capable of winning when all of the stars align. Not only win, but win with authority, decimate the field. That Ducati is one of the stars that needs to align, and what does history tell us about that? So if you go with the known vs. the unknown I’d say everything is par for the course so far and don’t really expect much to change. Naysayers fell free to unleash the hate, but the proof is in the pudding.
Ducati+JL= Yawn
Ah man, you just sent my boner into the ground
This makes no sense when it’s not in reply to the right post. See below. (Note I did delete this one, but it came back.)
I admit it might be funnier randomly on its own like this…probably not, but maybe.
I think he’ll pull one win out this year. Someone mentioned Stoner being able to win this year – I bet he could if they let him race at Phillip Island. Maybe if neither George and Dovi are in the championship hunt by then they’ll give him a wildcard and let him show his stuff. Actually I think Ducati would love to do that but Stoner just isn’t up for it.
I also find it strange that Petrucci is doing so much better on older machinery than our friend number 99. Of course he’s put in many, many more miles on various Ducatis than Jorge, but has development really sputtered that much that an older bike can compete, and win over an older bike? I find it a little odd.
Yep, perfect conditions and Jorge is king, but life ain’t perfect is it? Wonder what he’ll do after his Ducati contract is up. Any predictions? And when will Petrucci get a factory seat? He’s not too old…
Petrucci is on the GP17.
Oh that’s right… that’s the result of Petrucci and Redding fighting for the GP17. Makes more sense now.
Win a race ? Maybe , I predict at least one , if not more podium finishes by the end of the year
You could easily have run this story years ago when Rossi was on Ducati. Just swap the name. I feel bad for Ducati. They are foundering financially, with lagging sales, they are up for sale, and, other than the Stoner years, they cannot break through in MotoGP.
What makes you think they are struggling financially? Sales have increased every year for them since the great recession. About $850 million revenue according to the Audi Group financials.
I wonder what they’re profitability looks like $850m sounds like a lot of money, but the cost of fielding a MotoGP effort, even part of it, could absorb all of their profit and then some. That would have to be an aggressive marketing budget.
Operating margin is 7% according to the financials.
My first clue was that the company is up for sale. And BTW … revenue is pretty meaningless if profit margin is not up to par.
Of course Marquez says that, he’s enamored with Lorenzo. I don’t see Lorenzo winning this year on the Ducati, maybe next year, but I kind of doubt that too. Both Petrucci and Dovi are beating Lorenzo right now. The Ducati is vastly improved over what Rossi was stuck with riding, but apparently still only suits some specific riders. Right now Lorenzo isn’t one of them.
I remember my VFR750 was a dream to ride. But get it up to 100 mph and it did not turn back into the next lane easily as the gyroscopic forces came into effect. You have to slow these bikes down and then turn them in. Jorge can do well as he adapts to this. The Yamaha is more like my Ninja 250 which you could just stuff into a corner at any point and it turned like a dream. Jorge will come around.
I’m sure he appreciates your advice, let’s see if follows it.
If Rossi could not fair well during his tenure with Ducati, and he is probably the most adaptable rider, I don’t see how Lorenzo could win races this year, he is not as adaptable to new bikes.
Wasn’t the same bike then. It stands to reason that Rossi was getting all it had to offer.
Interesting to me that there are two year old bikes holding their own out there now. Seems like the development timeline is longer than the bike’s lifecycles.
re: “Jorge Will Win Races This Year for Ducati…”
…which ironically will coincide with whatever rounds the “Desmo Dove” has the misfortune of taking a DNF.
but really, it should come as no surprise that 2017 would be a learning year for Jay and that he would be off pace. okay if he’s still off pace by mid 2018…? right you have my permission to go and give him “what fer”.
i observe “signs of life” though, he has looked noticeably racy any time he’s been back on the Peninsula, home track for the W…!!!
Jorge has bought into a difficult bike to ride, on a team that makes Honda’s famous “it isn’t the rider, it is the bike” look like a adaptamobile until he comes to terms with the infamous Ducati front end, there will be no wins.
Well, there’s Austria which is almost entirely a “straight-line speed” type of track.
Everyone else is doing well on the Ducati, at least to reasonable expectation per rider, except for Jorge. I fear they’ll have to reinvent the bike for him to do well. Where does that leave everyone else?
NO.Casey Stoner has a better chance of winning this year !
No
The bike is capable of winning, Dovi proved that.
Jorge has great talent, he has proven that.
When he has the feel for the bike, winning will happen.
I’m a big fan of JL and Pedrosa because when they are in their zone, they make it look so easy. No excessive wheelspin, and no drama under braking. Just smooth lines and lots of mid corner speed.
There hasn’t been a single race this year where I’ve noticed JL in a good rhythm and looking like he’s in the zone. Maybe he can get some wins next year, but his setup has been way off so far on the Duc.
I have never been a fan of anyone that has to have everything perfectly going their way to win a race. I will always root for someone that can have a bad weekend and fight their way up through the grid and win. Pedro can do that once in a blue moon but princess Lorenzo is too much of a prima donna for my taste.
…if it’s 78 degrees, blue skies, 37% humidity, calm winds out of the north, and 10 mile visibility, everyone else will be fighting for second place all next season.
Not to mention the night before..
…if it’s 78 degrees, blue skies, 37% humidity, calm winds out of the north, 10 mile visibility, and a rising barometer, everyone else will certainly be fighting for second place all next season. Easy peasy.
Bwahaahaahaahhaa No! Maybe next year.
If he does win a race this year, I would sure hate to see his celebration ( even if he deserves it)
Seriously JLo has unbelievable skills, he has shown that many times in the past. When he and the bike are on the same page, it’s magic. It’s only a matter of time before they get on that page. Will it happen this year? Who knows. I think winning is not a mind set for him right now, and it’s a necessary mind set in this game. You have to know down to your roots that you can do it, that you deserve it, and that no one deserves it more than you. I don’t know if he is there yet on the Ducati.
For good weather racing.. even on Yamaha he sucked in the rain. Ducati should have saved their millions and got someone else. Of course Marc said JL will win races, especially when he helped him win just likes JLs last championship.
yep, i think he will win, no doubts. the bike is capable, the rider is capable. when they get in sync, it’s a no brainer.
it’ll be a tough, tough day for the haters…
The Ducati likes to be thrown around, and it’s hair pulled. Lorenzo is all about
(Computer hiccuped,sorry) Lorenzo is all about being smooth. I don’t know if they can adapt the bike to him, he is going to have to change.
Aw man, you just sent my boner into the ground.
All about what? You got me all moist here and then