 Lorenzo's Mugello crash was his third in successive rounds |
You have to feel sorry for Jorge Lorenzo. He's been pushing it to the limit for a while - and last time out, at the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello, it bit him. In the past he's been lucky, his crashes have been in practice, but this time it was in the race. He's probably learnt a valuable lesson. He's lost touch with championship a bit but it will make him realise he needs to plug away. I'm sure he'll win some more races this year but he was making it look a bit easy, so some guys will say he was asking for it - in a way, he was. I pretty much guarantee Lorenzo will be champion one day. He has huge natural talent but has to learn to tone it down a bit, and no-one can do that for him, only himself. He's hugely talented but experience counts for a lot. This weekend's race is in Barcelona, in front of his home crowd.  | These riders are the biking equivalents of Tiger Woods and Ernie Els, so they need the best tyre they can get under them. |
He has to learn to race for himself, and not the crowd - it's amazing how often people come to grief in their home race with the home crowd cheering them on. Fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa will absorb some of the crowd pressure but you don't want someone from your own country beating you. Lorenzo will be world champion one day, but it won't necessarily be this year. His Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi is on the same bike but with different tyres - Bridgestones, as opposed to Lorenzo's Michelins - which makes it harder for him. Maybe Rossi was smarter that we thought when he went for different tyres, as he knew he'd have to swap data if they were on the same tyres. So Lorenzo is effectively there with no team-mate and no data when he wants it, so he's done incredibly well. The importance of tyres is huge, but hard to explain - it's a bit like a golf club. | CATALUNYA MOTOGP Qualifying live: Saturday, BBCi (Freeview channel 302) and BBC Sport website, 1245-1400
125 and 250cc races live: Sunday, BBCi (Freeview channel 301) and BBC Sport website, 0945-1215
Race live: Sunday, BBC Two and BBC Sport website, 1230-1400
MotoGP Extra : Sunday, BBCi and BBC Sport website (not available on Freeview) 1400-1430
Coverage on the BBC Sport website is available for UK users only |
Different people like different ones, but it's difficult to understand how much difference there is between them until you're good enough to play off -2. The average golfer couldn't spot the difference between clubs, nor could average biker with tyres. But these riders are the biking equivalents of Tiger Woods and Ernie Els, so they need the best tyre they can get under them. It transmits the bike's power onto the track. Every tiny tenth of a second and fraction of grip on the track makes a difference to them. The tyre gives more percentage advantage than any part of the bike. What has happened this year is that Yamaha have hedged their bets. Last year Bridgestone definitely had the advantage ahead of Michelin, but this year Michelin have moved on and sorted out their issues. I've never seen a year where the products were so equal, so it's down to the rider to make the best use of the product he has underneath him. So what did we learn about any of the other teams last weekend? A lot of people were writing Casey Stoner off, saying he didn't have it to defend his world title, but he's proven that's not the case, so don't discount him. He'll certainly be on the podium lots this year.  Stoner is still world number one - for this year at least |
And nobody had a tougher task at Mugello than James Tosleand. He'd not raced there before and only had about an hour's dry track time in which to qualify and get to know the circuit. When you think how little time he had on the track, it was excellent - he's like a sponge, absorbing everything at every race he goes to, so I can't wait for Assen and Donington, two circuits he knows. He didn't have the settings he wanted at Mugello because he spent so much time learning the circuit. He said he'd never been so tired after a race, because if the bike's not set up right you're fighting it, but it's better to finish sixth than crash going for fifth. We've had some fabulous races but I want to see a blanket finish before the summer break. This weekend, I think it'll be between the usual protagonists. Rossi's on a roll, it's Pedrosa's home race and it's another fairly long track where we've seen great battles between Stoner and Rossi in the past - and we could easily see Lorenzo on pole. Barcelona's always a wild crowd and it'll be tough for all the guys as it's back to back races, pretty intensive schedule
Catalunya prediction 1. Rossi 2. Pedrosa 3. Stoner Steve Parrish was talking to Julian Shea
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