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Lorenzo Not at All Happy with His Foggy HJC Helmet That Caused His Poor Race at Silverstone

Two-time world champion Jorge Lorenzo seems to be less and less satisfied with the performance of his helmets. We watched the race at Silverstone last Sunday and saw him entering the box after the race with a face shield so fogged up that we could barely see his face.
Lorenzo has a figgy visor after the Silverstone race 1 photo
Lorenzo was not at all too shy to declare that on that day, the helmet he wore caused him to lose three points from Rossi, and it was the second time when his racing would have to suffer from the poor vision the helmet offered. Even more, he kept his visor shut entering the pit box, so that everybody could see it.

Yamaha Racing Director Lin Jarvis says that each rider gets to choose their own riding gear, including helmets, leathers and all. The riders sign personal sponsorship and endorsement contracts and the teams have no say in the process.

Jarvis also mentions the "impardonable problem" Lorenzo battled with in the first race of the season, when a part of the helmet lining collapsed and blocked almost half of Lorenzo's field of vision. However, when it comes the foggy visor, the Yamaha official says that this is a rather common problem in rainy conditions.

No Pinlock lenses in MotoGP

Asked about the incident, HJC replied that Lorenzo should have kept the frontal air vents open in the race and use a noseguard, while applying a special spray coating to the inside of the visor. Lorenzo mentions that he did not use the noseguard, but that spray was applied, yet to no avail.

MotoGP riders do not use Pinlock lenses in their helmets in cold weather conditions or in the rain because these add-ons, as good as they may be in keeping the visor clean, introduce a little optical distortion that affects riding.

Optical distortions are definitely one the last things MotoGP riders want from their visors. In most of the turns and when passing, the premier class riders need to have perfect vision for accurately calculating the distances and a visor that alters the image is definitely a no-no.

Meanwhile, it looks like the Italian media already sees Lorenzo getting closer to the local helmet manufacturer Nolan, even though the Spaniard says that he intends to fulfill his contract with HJC. Reportedly, Lorenzo's deal with HJC lasts through the whole 2016 season, but some rumors have Nolan buying Lorenzo out of his deal for the next season.
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