CN
III IN THE PADDOCK
P98
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
H
ero to zero. The margins
are famously small. As
Jorge Lorenzo demon-
strated so clearly during this
past ultimately disconsolate
2014 season.
It was all to do with rain,
guesswork, and gambling.
The same three hosts to many
grand prix feats, and at least as
many humbling downfalls.
Jorge did both and only a few
races apart.
At Aragon, while the factory
Honda pair both bet wrongly
and tumbled clownishly, Loren-
zo read the weather, measured
his chances, assessed his po-
sition, and timed his pit call just
right, to switch to his wet bike
even as the rain intensified. He
came out of the race looking
like the cat that got the cream
and rather clever with it.
At Valencia, the opposite. The
mid-race sprinkle blew away
even as Jorge leapt onto his wet
bike. Disaster. On completely
the wrong kit, he retired in as
high a dudgeon as you might ex-
pect.
It had been a last desperate
throw of the dice to stop Valen-
HEROES AND ZEROES
