A lot of people had counted Jorge Lorenzo out. Even several races into this year it seemed he would never figure out how to go fast on his Ducati. Now, all of a sudden, it seems, he has won three races and his confidence is sky high.
After winning an epic battle with Marc Marquez (Honda) last weekend in Austria, Lorenzo gave an interview and stated that, if Ducati can improve its corner speed, “we will win every race” and the championship.
The thing is, with just eight races remaining and a 71 point gap between Lorenzo and points leader Marquez, that’s a very tall order, and almost certainly dependent on a DNF, or two, from Marquez. Otherwise, Marquez can podium his way to the title without any more wins.
In any event, it will be fascinating to watch the remainder of this series unfold. Perhaps, a consistent challenger to Marquez’ dominance has arrived in the form of Jorge Lorenzo aboard a Ducati. Who would have thought?
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Jorge’s emergence as a (long shot) contender has made this season exciting again. Dovi’s battling (fight back) has improved and he’s shown he’s ready to fight. The Yamahas are nowhere now (even Zarco !) and they have fallen from the battle. Yeah Rossi is still contending but the 2 Ducatis will take the fight to Marquez. Or, Marquez may just throw it down the road a couple of times like he’s been known to do.
Go Jorge !
Possible? Sure. Remotely probable? Not so much. We saw it happen in WSBK with Edwards and Bayliss as someone else mentioned, but I can’t remember anything like that before or after, not a a premier racing level anyway.
Also, it is worth saying that Lorenzo didn’t say that he had a chance, IMO. He said that IF Ducati could find corner speed they could win the championship. Ducatis’ riders have been asking for corner speed for years now. Don’t think they’ll get it mid-season.
As a long time Honda/Repsol fan, and for the past five or six years, a Marquez fan, I would like to see Marquez win again. However, the last couple of races have been more exciting to watch than the runaways from earlier in the season.
2002 WSBK season: Bayliss had a 58 point lead with 9 races left. Edwards won all 9 and the championship. It could happen, but I doubt it.
next to motorcycles, my passion has been F1. I remember the Hunt/Lauda rivalry of the mid 70s. an insurmountable lead was quickly overcome due to a drastic change in fortunes. it can happen here. Marc’s consistency has kept him at the top. Statistically this should change. Marc needs to protect his lead and I don’t think that’s in his nature. My money is on Marc, but I think it will be close. Rossi really hasn’t shown anything. he’s a 50 to 1 shot. Damn. I hope I’m wrong. Moto GP would go nuts if he could pull this out.
“Marc’s consistency has kept him at the top. Statistically this should change.”
Actually, no, it shouldn’t. Marc no longer needs to win races to win the title, so maintaining consistency will be easier for him now than it was before he built up his huge lead in the championship; a lead which was built upon a withering degree of, yes, you guessed it…consistency.
Meanwhile, in order for his championship rivals to close this enormous points deficit before the dwindling season runs out, they must now throw caution to the wind and do everything possible to finish ahead of Marc every race. Given the fact that Marc podiums nearly every weekend, usually finishing either first or second, the reality facing his rivals is that the only way to finish ahead of Marc is to win the race.
Marc proved in 2015 that he has matured as a racer. He is now willing to temper his former win-or-crash attitude of previous seasons in favor of racing strategically, with the championship title always the primary goal. Marc can do remedial math, which tells him that as long as he stays upright each race it is now nearly impossible for anyone to catch him in the points chase. Short of a DNF or three, no one else has a chance at this championship.
This being the case, which rider do you suppose is more likely to push past the limit and DNF again, Marc or Jorge? Jorge and Valentino and Andrea do not have the luxury of merely being consistent and earning podiums. They now have to win every time. Marc doesn’t. Marc can afford to play it safe, and that’s exactly what he will do, as needed.
In doing so, the odds are that before all is said and done his lead will likely grow, as his desperation-fueled rivals will almost certainly prove less consistent than he will over the remainder of the season.
Anything can happen in racing. Long odds, certainly, but I can not think of another rider that hard-headed and totally non-plussed when it comes to Marquez ( . . . except maybe Crutchlow . . . ), and I think if JL can start putting the prod to MM even before they’re in the same garage, you just never know . . . . Jorge has been on the receiving end of a lot mind games in his early days, and has probably learned the game well.
Tell ya the truth, I don’t care how they fare next year when both are wearing Repsol leathers, the competition and the press conferences alone will be worth the price of admission, two Spanish matadors and no bull, only swords for each other. Yippee ! !
Never want to see anyone DNF, but if Marquez didn’t finish a couple of races, it certainly would make the season more interesting from a fan’s point of view.
That being said, may the best man win!
Such words are just tools in the positioning warfare leading up to both JL and MM on Hondas. If Ducati can improve its corner speed, Dovi will be a player in this game as well, but none of the Ducati riders can touch MM for the overall championship.
I saw Lorenzo on the elevator in our hotel after the Austin race. He was not a happy guy. Nice to see that smile again!
Marc can recover from a low side crash. Lorenzo can’t.
I see the point, but when did you see Lorenzo pushing the front and crashing?
Marc started saving his regular front end pushes this year after training specifically for this, (pavement or dirt corner entry deliberately set-up with a garden hose to make a wet patch, even kids on minigp bikes started doing it in training in Spain). That just mean his crew does have like 1 or sometimes no RC213V-crash-repair-rush a weekend instead of 2 or three. Lorenzo’s crew has to play with seat pads, tang grip stick-ons and such, not much rebuilding a Desmosedici-rolled-up-in-a-ball there as far as I can tell.
Ciao!
Of course that is also counting on nothing but sunshine at every race…..
As they say “time will tell”. But Jorge has forgotten about another player in this. And that would be a bike sporting the #46. Rossi is second in the points due to his consistency. And speaking of consistency look at Marquez. Jorge has a huge mountain to climb. And the so called “Ducati tracks ” are all behind them. Something horrible would have to happen to Marquez and that MotoGP fans would not want.
So your sayin, “There might be a chance”? 🙂
Lol
I’m a big Lorenzo fan, but I don’t see it happening unless Marquez has some very bad luck. He’s made some big strides on the Duc, but it’s still not very good in twisty sections.
Marc’s medium front/hard rear combo in Austria probably wasn’t helping him, considering that Jorge had no problem finishing the race on soft/soft.