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MotoGP, "Lorenzo has forced Marquez to maintain his standards"

The opinion of Juan Martinez, former technician of Doohan and Rossi: "no one can compete with Marc right now. Jorge? Changing gets harder as you get older, but he'll soon be fighting for victory"

MotoGP: "Lorenzo has forced Marquez to maintain his standards"

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Juan Martinez knows the riders well, particularly the champions. he now commentates for Spanish TV, but he worked for Honda for many years, alongside riders of the caliber of Doohan, Rossi, Criville, Gibernau and Hayden. He has a good, well-trained eye and it's currently focused on the Repsol HRC Team.

The Marquez - Lorenzo pairing was meant to be a dream team, but for now only one side of the garage is dreaming. Marc is enjoying one of his best seasons to date,  while Jorge is struggling to interpret the RC213V.

Despite this, Martinez believe the hiring of the Majorcan is paying off.

The arrival of Jorge to the team has forced Marc not to lower his standards, which is the most important thing for an elite athlete to avoid falling into the trap of self-satisfaction - he comments - This year Marc looks more solid than ever, because everything he does, he does through knowledge, and the message that sends to his rivals is devastating.”

There can only be one conclusion.

“Right now I don’t see anyone who really has everything in place to challenge his supremacy” he states.

The dream team still has time to come together though. Former crew chief Juan believes that Jorge simply needs time. And for one very good reason.

What is happening to Jorge happens to us all as we get older: We find changes harder to digest. We have to use more experience to try to make changes and take on new challenges. I don’t think anyone can question Jorge’s greatness. I think he’s one of the best riders to have ever raced in MotoGP, at least in the years that I’ve followed it."

Martinez has total faith in Lorenzo.

"Jorge has shown that he has always come out of complicated situations well. Being older, more things can go through your head, and since last year at Aragon he has been unlucky with injuries, which hasn’t facilitated the calmness that favours his adaptation. But I have no doubt that in the end, if he keeps up his effort and the team puts the necessary tools at his disposal, soon we will see Jorge fighting to win a race.”

Translated by Heather Watson
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