The rumours about Jorge Lorenzo heading Yamaha’s revised satellite firmed up over the Mugello weekend – and though there is so far no official confirmation, it seems the former triple MotoGP World Champion will be on equal machinery to Rossi and Vinales in the factory team.

The sponsorship will come from Petronas, but the still-shaky Marc VDS team is out of the running. Instead the satellite Yamahas will be run by the Aspar Team owned by former tiddler multi-champion Jorge Martinez, currently running Ducatis under the new-this-year “Angel Nieto Team” name, backed by Pull&Bear.

This gives affirmation to Lorenzo’s Thursday assertion that his next two years will be “on a competitive motorcycle”; but is bad news for current Aspar riders Alvaro Bautista and Karel Abraham: the top tip for Lorenzo’s team-mate is current Marc VDS rider Franco Morbidelli, the reigning Moto2 champion and so far top MotoGP rookie.

Lorenzo’s first access to the front row this year was the consequence of two improvements.

The first, as reported yesterday, was extra padding at the back of the fuel tank, giving him physical support under braking.

The second was a pair of new chassis, improving mid-corner performance.

He’d had only one at Le Mans, which hindered his progress in setting; but having two the same meant easier progress.

“I just missed out on my first pole position with Ducati by a few thousandths, but I’m satisfied with the work we’ve done. The new fuel tank helped a lot with confidence but mainly energy,” he said. He had complained of fatigue spoiling his late-race performance at the last two or three rounds.

By Michael Scott

Lorenzo, Italian MotoGP 2018