Jorge Lorenzo will receive further upgrades for the Dutch TT aimed at getting him more comfortable with his RC213-V, according to the three-time MotoGP world champion.
Lorenzo has struggled so far in his debut year with the factory Honda squad, the Mallorcan yet to score a top ten finish so far in 2019. His best so far is 11th at Le Mans, but upgrades brought for the Catalan GP last time out looked to bring Lorenzo closer to the front-running pace.
He managed to get straight into Q2 after setting a strong time in FP3, before a disappointed Lorenzo failed to put his sectors together and was forced to start tenth for the race.
He made a great start however and looked to be challenging for the podium positions shortly before instigating a four-bike crash as he tucked the front at the tight Turn 10 left-hander.
Lorenzo explained that Honda will bring further upgrades for this weekend’s Dutch TT at Assen, including an all new fairing, in order to provide a much needed breakthrough for the combination.
“I don’t know the future so it’s a new track, a new weekend, anything can happen but hopefully the feeling will be good from the start,” said Lorenzo.
“We’ll try to continue this better feeling I’m having with the bike, including the new pieces that we will use this weekend – more pieces than at the Catalan GP. So, hopefully with a little bit from here and a little bit from there we can be closer to the top guys.”
Lorenzo explained in further detail which upgrades were being introduced for him to try this weekend, a new fairing being the most significant.
“We will have here probably a new fairing. We’re waiting for confirmation but probably tomorrow we’ll use a new fairing to give me a little bit more support, plus some other little things.
“The parts are one part of this process [referring to the trip to Japan], this idea that I had. For the moment, it looks like it is only for me that will use it.”
A new fairing proved to be the key to unlocking Lorenzo’s speed on the Ducati last season. The Italian marque introduced a developed version of the fairing for the Italian GP in an attempt to make Lorenzo more comfortable on his GP18 machine.
This worked emphatically; as he went on to secure victory in his first race with the new fairing at Mugello before scoring back to back wins in Barcelona just two weeks later.
