Jorge Lorenzo’s gamble to switch from slicks to wets in yesterday’s Assen MotoGP clash failed to pay off as light rain got no heavier and he ended up being lapped by old enemy Valentino Rossi before crossing the line a dismal 15th and scoring one point.
The multiple world champion - who suffered massive crash in wet conditions at the track in 2013 - had showed a decent turn of pace in the early stages, climbing from his lowly 21st grid slot, and was lapping as fast as Jack Miller and Dani Pedrosa but spits of rain saw him unable to judge grip and he decided there was nothing to lose in changing to full wets.
I was losing half-a-second to the fastest ones in general, but I was really consistent. I was catching Iannone and getting a bit closer to the other group, Miller and Pedrosa. But when it starting spitting, I started to lose my pace so much. Much more than the ones in front and behind, they overtook me, I was 14th and I said 'ok, I have nothing to lose, maybe one or two points'. So I took the gamble. But it didn't rain more. It stopped raining and the rain tyres were too soft for those conditions,” said Lorenzo, speaking at the track.
"It was a gamble, knowing that in the warm-up it started to rain and then rained heavily. I was 14th so had nothing to lose. Maybe one point. But I could get seven or eight points more if it worked. Also I was losing five seconds per lap with slicks. So another three or four riders would have passed me anyway if I kept riding."
The Spaniard has only stood on the Assen podium once in seven years and freely admits he doesn’t get on with the place.
"This track, apart from 2015 when I finished third, and with the mixed conditions, have probably been the worst weekends I had with the Yamaha over the last three or four years. Also starting 21st today didn't help.
"But in dry conditions, knowing all the circumstances, I wasn't so bad: In a hard weekend we didn't lose more than half a second on pace. But obviously with the slicks and wet conditions I don't feel well, I don't know where the limit is and I'm very slow. I'm not a specialist in these conditions. I lose too much."
