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Ducati MotoGP team manager Davide Tardozzi says the squad “always knew” Honda-bound Jorge Lorenzo would eventually start winning races for his current team.
Lorenzo had a tough first year with Ducati and, after a poor start to the 2018 season, eventually signed for Honda for ’19.
But Lorenzo finally made a breakthrough by winning at Mugello, and then doubled-up with his victory at Barcelona.
Tardozzi said that Ducati never gave up on its hopes of Lorenzo eventually clicking with the bike as he persisted in his approach.
“What I said several times during last year and the beginning of this year – we always knew that he was going to do it because he never gives up,” Tardozzi told BT Sport.
“Even in bad races that he had last year like Le Mans, after 10 minutes he was there with the engineers trying to find solutions.
“Again, he never gives up and a champion like he is, he comes to the point.”
Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali explained that rather than feeling bittersweet about the breakthrough due to Lorenzo’s departure next year, he is happy that rider and team have “solved the equation”.
“That is life, you know, I am usually the type of a guy that looks for the positives,” Domenicali said.
“[It] would have been much worse if we ended up with a story without actually being able to make him win.
“I am very happy about the way – we found a solution, he found a solution. Now we can enjoy a lot of racing like this.”
Lorenzo said that winning two races in a row “looked impossible” just two months ago.
“Two months ago, [it] looked unbelievable, no, [it] looked impossible – and now it’s done,” he said. “We humans very easily get used to the good things.
“This is not very good because you need to enjoy these emotions a lot, but I cannot say I’m not really happy to win two victories in a row with Ducati.”
Lorenzo accepted recent criticism towards him, but hopes that people will remember his performances the next time he is going through a rough patch.
“Well, it’s just the human nature, no?” he asked.
“We believe the present and when the present is bad, we speak too early, no?
“We need to have more memory and to understand what I’ve done during all these years in the world championship.
“[It’s] 16 years in the world championship and I always came back.
“I hope next time when I go through a bad moment, they remember this time.”