MotoGP 2015: Jorge Lorenzo prepares to face demons that have dogged him at the Dutch TT

AFTER four straight wins Jorge Lorenzo heads to Saturday’s Dutch TT high on confidence, something he’ll need at a track where misfortune has dogged him.

ASSEN, NETHERLANDS - JUNE 30: Jorge Lorenzo of Spain and Yamaha Factory Team walks out of track after crashed out during the MotoGP race of the MotoGp Of Holland at TT Circuit Assen on June 30, 2012 in Assen, Netherlands. (Photo by Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images)

WITH four straight wins in the books Jorge Lorenzo heads to Saturday’s MotoGP Dutch TT one point out of the championship and riding high on confidence.

And he will need every last shred of self-belief, as the Assen circuit has given him nothing but nightmares in each of his last four visits.

Lorenzo has four career wins in total at the circuit, the most recent of which coming in 2010 with a dominant victory from pole position.

It must seem like a lifetime ago given the disasters that have befallen him every year since.

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2011 — LORENZO SEES RED

Lorenzo and Simoncelli rush to pick up their bikes.

Started: 4th
Finished: 6th
Lorenzo’s bad run at Assen started in 2011. He qualified fourth but only made it halfway around the opening lap.

Marco Simoncelli tried to pass him at the Struben hairpin but made a mess of it, taking both himself and the No. 1 Yamaha down.

Though he was able to remount his machine and finish the race in sixth, Lorenzo was fuming. The lost points would prove costly in a tightly-fought championship battle with Casey Stoner, while it was the latest in a string of incidents involving the much-missed Simoncelli that had drawn the ire of several riders.

But at least Lorenzo had been able to resume the race, a luxury he wouldn’t be afforded one year later.

2012 — IT’S ALL OVER NOW, BABY BLUE

Bautista took Lorenzo (hidden) out at Turn 1.

Started: 3rd
Finished: DNF, 0 laps (accident)
This time Lorenzo qualified on the front row, a feat which in theory would keep him clear of the trouble that can brew in the opening lap of a grand prix.

An angry Lorenzo confronts Bautista.

It didn’t help. Lorenzo didn’t even make it through the first corner.

Alvaro Bautista — coincidentally, the late Simoncelli’s replacement at Gresini Honda — took Lorenzo out in an overambitious move barely 10 seconds after the start of the race.

The blue and white Yamaha tumbled through the gravel before emitting a big puff of white smoke. Its engine was done and so was Lorenzo’s race.

The points loss would not hurt him down the stretch, Lorenzo going on to clinch his second world championship with a round to spare.

2013 — SUPERMAN RETURNS

Lorenzo, in agony, accepts the congratulations of his team.

Started: 12th
Finished: 5th
Lorenzo arrived at Assen at the top of his game in 2013, fresh from a pair of victories at Mugello and Catalunya that drew him within arms reach of ultra-consistent title leader Dani Pedrosa.

Lorenzo’s Yamaha bucks him off.

And then it all went wrong in the wet second practice session. He strayed too close to the edge of the track in the high-speed sweeps around the back of the circuit, a puddle causing the No. 99 Yamaha to snap violently sideways and spit him hard into the tarmac.

The impact broke his collarbone, Lorenzo immediately flying home to Spain to go under the knife.

And then, just one day after surgery, he returned to Assen to take part in the race.

That he could race through the pain was incredible; the tears streaming down his contorted face as he unzipped his leathers at the end of 26 agonising laps told of his anguish.

That he finished fifth the race, just 15 seconds behind the winner, was astonishing.

But the seeds were sown that day for a disastrous race 12 months later.

2014 — THE FEAR

Lorenzo struggled in the semi-wet/semi-dry conditions.

Started: 9th
Finished: 13th
Lorenzo was already ill at ease aboard a 2014-spec Yamaha that was not quite to his liking. A sprinkling of rain early in the race did nothing to help his mood.

The former world champion rode like a chump, paralysed by a fear of repeating the previous year’s crash.

Lorenzo apologised to his team and his fans after riding to a listless 13th, admitting he had simply been “scared”.

“The problem was when I changed to the dry tires and when I saw some spots in some corners I just didn’t want to take the risk to crash again and be injured again at this track,” he said.

“Probably the memory of last year was making me too conscious of the risks and too afraid to be fast.”

Originally published as MotoGP 2015: Jorge Lorenzo prepares to face demons that have dogged him at the Dutch TT