MOTOGP
FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 6 / JUNE 1-3, 2018
MUGELLO CIRCUIT / SCARPERIA E SAN PIERO, ITALY
P64
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
N
o foregone conclusions.
Especially not now, when
dumb-down technicalities
have made the racing closer than
it's ever been. So those who've
been saying that Jorge Lorenzo
is a spent force, it's straight to the
naughty step for you.
After more than a year of
struggle with the Ducati, of brief
flashes of speed undermined by
long dark days, of doubts pressing
in, Jorge Lorenzo's faith in himself
may have been more shaken than
he would admit.
If so, then he was wrong as
well, as he proved in one em-
phatic day in Italy, with a lights-
to-flag victory reminiscent of his
great glory days on a Yamaha.
He didn't see another motor-
cycle the whole race.
Ducati had given him a new
chassis, and more crucially, modi-
fied ergonomics. Where before
he had been fading later in each
race, blaming fatigue from a lack
of support under braking, now he
had a padded-out fuel tank to take
the strain. And on a day when hot
conditions and chewed up tires
were confounding the rest, he
was the one who could not only
It took a year
and a half and a
contract worth over
a rumored $20
million, but Jorge
Lorenzo finally took
a win in dominant
style for Ducati.
Jorge Lorenzo finally delivered on his multi-million
dollar promise at Mugello, dominating the Italian
Grand Prix and leading a one-two for Ducati at home.
BETTER
LATE
THAN
NEVER
