MotoGP Riders Talk Strategy For Tomorrow’s San Marino Grand Prix

Andrea Wilson | September 12, 2015
Can anyone beat the on-form Jorge Lorenzo at Misano  Photogrpahy by Gold   Goose

PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE

MISANO, ITALY, SEPT. 12—The anticipation is high for tomorrow’s sold out San Marino Grand Prix at Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli.” Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo is on good form and starts on pole position. His rivals—Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez and championship rival/teammate, Valentino Rossi—join him on the front row. It is a critical starting position for Marquez and Rossi, so that they can try and make sure Lorenzo doesn’t do what he does best—disappear.

Marquez’ teammate Dani Pedrosa (starting fourth), stressed the importance of getting that good start to make sure Lorenzo doesn’t run away with his sixth win of the season.

“I think the key for tomorrow is going to be the start, because [Jorge] Lorenzo is on first place now,” Pedrosa said. “We know when he’s first and with that rhythm he does a good start, he gets first in the first turn and then starts pulling a distance on the first lap.”

Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Bradley Smith agreed and felt that Marquez’s strategy needed to be to lead the race.

“I think Jorge’s got the advantage over everyone at the moment,” Smith said. “What Marc will have to do is try and get underneath him in the first five laps. Actually following Jorge is not necessarily the best option. You’ve got to try and unsettle him and get him out of his rhythm. Because I believe that the Honda and Yamaha do lap times completely different around here. Marc can ride behind Jorge all day long, but I don’t believe Jorge can ride behind Marc; that will put him off a little bit. That’s the only thing that Marc has in his back pocket, being able to lunge and attack like that.

“Having seeing Jorge even on an out lap today in qualifying, where he’s got everybody stacked up behind him, I think five guys, and he’s pulled two seconds before they even got to the finish line. So that’s still what he’s got in his back pocket and that’s a super strong card to have.”

Any way you look at it though, the Movistar Yamaha duo’s record here at Misano is quite impressive—six wins between the pair tied at three each, with Rossi being the defending winner. As was pointed out by Rossi in the pre-race press conference, the three that Rossi won there was a battle. The three that Lorenzo won, the Spaniard checked out.

“The three I won I was on pole position,” Lorenzo said. “Well, tomorrow would be the perfect occasion to do it. We are going to try.”

“I think that everything can happen,” Rossi said. “If you look today the pace is little bit better than the Jorge one and me and Marc very similar. But you know, from today and tomorrow can happen everything. So I hope to do a good race and especially fight for the victory or arrive good. This is the target.” 

And then there’s Marquez. The reigning champ looks forward to battling with the title contenders tomorrow and said that he is going for “25 points.”

Although the new surface is not as grippy as it was at the previous test with the new surface it still is more abrasive than the older surface and the weather report shows it to be hotter tomorrow. As such, Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso has concerns of rear tire wear and felt that it favored the Yamaha’s over Marquez on the Honda. But Marquez was not worried.

“No,” Marquez laughed. “Its true that it looks like that Yamaha, in the other races the life of the tire is better. But here in the opposite way, I feel better with the used tire than the new one. So with the new one we have a lot of problems, with the used one the bike looks a little bit easier to ride….  I will try to be behind them and try to keep the concentration a 100 percent and try to manage well the tire.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Andrea Wilson | Managing Editor 

Andrea has been shooting everything from flat track to road racing in her job as a professional freelance photographer, but she's made the move to a full-time staff position at Cycle News where her love of all things motorcycling will translate well. Wilson has proven her worth as more than a photographer as she migrates to the written word with everything from race coverage to interviews.