Honda is still investigating the cause for Jorge Lorenzo to stop in Americas MotoGP race as it shrugs off Marc Marquez’s crash.
It ended up being a disaster for Honda at Circuit of The Americas for Americas MotoGP race on Sunday with three of the four bikes not seeing the chequered flag, with only LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami finishing 10th abode the 2018 spec.
The first one to crash was LCR’s Cal Crutchlow while running in third behind Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi. Over mid-way into the grand prix, Marquez crashed out from a dominant lead position and despite his valiant effort to continue on, he couldn’t do anything.
Moments later, Lorenzo stopped in the same corner with a suspected issue which the Japanese manufacturer is yet to fully diagnose. “At this moment we don’t know what happened with Lorenzo’s bike,” said Honda’s Alberto Puig.
“We are investigating and we need some time to understand what the problem was. Jorge’s target was the top ten, but in the first two laps he was not super fast. But once he stabilized he kept his rhythm well and was moving ahead in the classifications.
“And then he had the problem that we still don’t know about fully.” The Spaniard also faced a technical issue in qualifying which limited his chances. Post-race, Lorenzo mentioned about facing brake issues before his unfortunate stop but Honda is yet to confirm.
On the other hand, Puig shot down any huge significance of Marquez’s crash. He was certainly disappointed but understood that its part of racing. “The balance is clear and it’s not good because we got 0 points,” he said.
“But on the other hand Marc was two-steps ahead when he was on track, this is what gives us the will to continue working with full motivation and high hopes. The strategy for Marc was start and go, it was what was happening but unfortunately Marc lost the front.
“But the strategy was the same as in Argentina, but these things happen – this is racing. The positive points are that neither Marc nor Cal are injured. Marc is stronger than ever and he showed it in the last two races.”
The Spaniard, himself, took it as a normal incident and insisted that he wasn’t pushing too much as the data suggested the same. The crash cost him points lead as dropped to fourth with Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso leading with 54 points to Marquez’s 45.
Meanwhile, Crutchlow explained his fall where the British rider revealed that he had some issues while turning the bike. “I’m very disappointed with the result here at the Circuit of the Americas,” said Crutchlow. “It seemed that I got a good start.
“I managed to be on the pace with the front guys, Marc had a little bit of a lead but I felt comfortable in the position I was in. Unfortunately I started to feel some issues with the turning of the bike.
“The front tyre was not giving me a great feeling and when I crashed I think I made a mistake because the engine was snapping on the braking. I locked the front in turn 11 going on to the back straight and it was the end of my race.”
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