Jorge Lorenzo believes a top six result was possible in qualifying for the French Grand Prix had he not chosen the wrong compound of Michelin tyre in the closing stages of the session.
The Honda rider completed his first runs with a soft wet-weather rear tyre, but elected to switch to the slightly harder medium compound for his second attempt after struggling initially, anticipating track conditions to remain similar.
Lorenzo duly ventured out to complete his final runs on the medium compound, only to find a track wetter than expected, thus limiting him to eighth on the grid while team-mate Marc Marquez took pole.
Despite this being his highest starting position so far in his first year with the factory HRC squad, the Mallorcan is convinced he could have done better had he made a different tyre choice for his final run.
“I was quite competitive in the rain during FP3. In the qualifying session I maybe made the wrong decision with the tyres because I chose the soft rear before changing to the medium at the end expecting the same conditions.
“However I was too soft (tyre compound) when the track was quite dry, and then it (circuit) got wetter when I was on the mediums.
“I could have been on the first or second row, but instead I’m eighth and on the third row.
"It’s the best qualifying result of the year, but could have been better with a different decision.”
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