Lorenzo blames 'rock'-like medium tyre for Misano MotoGP crash
Jorge Lorenzo says he puts his crash in MotoGP's San Marino Grand Prix down to his choice of the "rock"-like medium front tyre
Ducati rider Lorenzo slipped out of contention for a podium finish when he lost the front end of his GP18 bike under braking for the Turn 8 left-hander with two laps to go, while battling for second place with Marc Marquez.
He ultimately finished 17th after remounting.
The Spaniard chose the conventional medium-medium tyre strategy for the race, like main rivals Marquez and Dovizioso, but was left to rue that decision as he said the medium front didn't give him enough grip under braking.
"[The reason for the crash] was more to have to use the medium-medium that normally I don't like, especially the front," recalled Lorenzo.
"I didn't have any grip on the side, I didn't have good grip in the centre of the tyre at the front and rear to stop the bike.
"This made me stop the bike using a lot of brake, so choosing this 'rock' tyre made me have a lot of troubles during the race.
"The front didn't support my braking. So I think it was this, the impossibility to choose the soft front tyre that made me crash today and not go faster."
"With softer tyres I think I would have had something more for Dovi and Marc, but with the medium tyres, the pace was very similar for the three riders.
"I think especially in the second part of the race, both Ducati riders had more than Marc, but Marc had my wheel to keep there, especially in the last part of the race when I was pushing and I had more confidence."
Lorenzo had unofficially topped the times during a private test at Misano last month, where conditions were similarly warm, but the Spaniard said the tyres were behaving completely differently during the race weekend.
"It was a very strange thing that one month ago with very hot conditions, the rear soft tyre was really constant, and this weekend the soft rear tyre was impossible to keep going after five laps on Friday, it was destroyed completely," he said.
"It was impossible to use it for any bike.
"Medium rear and soft front could have been a good option, but we'll never know."
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About this article
| Series | MotoGP |
| Drivers | Jorge Lorenzo |
| Teams | AB Motoracing |
| Author | Jamie Klein |
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