Jorge Lorenzo says updates to his GP18 brought by Ducati for the Jerez MotoGP weekend have made his life “easier”, after qualifying a season-best fourth.
The Spaniard has endured a nightmare start to his second campaign with Ducati, Lorenzo so far failing to crack the top 10 in a race and currently sitting 16th in the points standings.
Lorenzo made a low-key start to his Jerez weekend, ending Friday's running seventh, but improved to fifth in third practice and managed to qualify fourth, missing the front row by 0.015 seconds.
Admitting to feeling “sad” after a dismal Austin weekend, in which he finished 11th, Lorenzo says his updated Ducati is “smoother” and “calmer” to ride , and has given him “more motivation”.
“Finally some good results to give me more motivation and happiness to keep going,” he said.
“I was quite sad after the race in Austin, so finally at a track I like, with good grip, the new asphalt and the new items Ducati has brought here, that makes my life easier, makes the bike smoother and I could get a good position in qualifying.
“I we very close to the front row, but it also could easily have been worse because there are four or five riders right behind me with a similar laptime.
“But mainly the feeling, we've improve the feeling from the last race, because of the two new things Ducati has brought here that make the bike calmer and more how I like.
“I would have like to have them before, but it's never too late to improve the feeling.”
Lorenzo took his maiden Ducati podium at Jerez last year, but the Spaniard admits the strength of the Hondas and Suzukis around him will make this a difficult feat to repeat.
“The Hondas have made a big step forward this year, and the Suzukis,” he added.
“So maybe last year we could even have won, but you never know in MotoGP because anything can happen.
“I think the Hondas are the favourites, so we just need to try and stay as close to them as possible and see if we can get on the podium.”
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