3-time MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo, who now works as an expert and commentator on the Spanish channel DAZN, predicted a total and unconditional victory of Ducati and Francesco Bagnaia in 2022: “Fabio knows how to work miracles, but now even he will not be able to overcome the superiority of Ducati.”
On Saturday, at the Australian Grand Prix qualifying, new Phillip Island absolute records were set in all three classes. The lap record in the MotoGP class has lasted since 2013, and it was Jorge Lorenzo who set it then. But the young “padawan” Jorge Martin was able to surpass the record of the 3-time champion.
During a conversation with his namesake after the press conference, Lorenzo joked that at 1:25 he would also have stopped by if he had such a Ducati as Martin at his disposal, thereby recognizing the superiority of the Desmosedici GP22 over the Yamaha and Ducati of previous years. But not only the past ones!
After that, Lorenzo gave a thorough analysis of the situation in MotoGP, communicating with his interlocutors at the Phillip Island Circuit:
“First, I think we are seeing the best Ducati and the weakest Yamaha in 15 years. This creates incredible difficulties for Fabio, and he has to endure incredible pressure. It is obvious that he is turning inside out to achieve a result, trying to do something.”
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“Fabio has made only two mistakes this year, in Assen and in Thailand, but in other cases, he has had an amazingly stable season. And he demonstrated a lot of magic tricks. He is a real Yamaha magician. But now it won’t help him – he won’t be able to overcome Ducati’s superiority in the last two races. Without losses in Assen and Thailand, he would probably have coped.”
“Pecco, on the other hand, has grown steeply and strengthened this year. Even if he starts from afar on Fridays, the team manages to solve all the issues for FP4. He approaches the qualification 100% ready. That is, Ducati has learned to solve all existing problems quite quickly, the teams under the management of Dal’The Yinyas work like clockwork.”
“But the key star of the project is Pecco, who demonstrates his maturity and readiness to take the title. His combination with Ducati is perfect today. This year there are three new Untouchables – Mark, Fabio, and Pecco. In 2023, the main fight will be between them and them.”
“Anything can happen in Sepang and Valencia! Pecco and Fabio – both can make mistakes, or they can be accompanied by failure. But if everything goes well, Aleix will no longer have any chance to compete with them. I don’t want to say what I’m being asked right now. I think that Pecco is the favorite, and the next race in Sepang gives him his first chance for an early victory. Fabio can stand up to him, he still has a chance to save the title…”
“But since you insist… Pecco must win!” – Lorenzo put a point.