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Jorge Lorenzo gave a long interview to DAZN Spain, speaking at length about his past and his opponents. The rider from Mallorca has had a long career, studded with many successes, but also with problems, first during his two years with Ducati then with Honda.
"With Yamaha, I was able to go fast right from the start, " he said, remembering his MotoGP debut. "That was a bike for me, and I had taken full advantage of it. It was natural. I didn't have that continuity with Ducati. I had to adapt it a bit to myself, and I wasn't able to ride it naturally. If I had stayed with Ducati, we could have aimed to win the World Championship."
But things went differently.
“If I put myself in their place, it wasn't easy to predict the future," Jorge admitted "I always complained about the same thing, and the results did not come. It was complicated. They didn't know how to have a vision of what could happen. I always had a clear one, otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to stay ahead for so many laps. In 2018, I started out really badly. I knew more or less what was going on. I was missing something on the bike, to make it gentler and less tiring. When I did, I became really strong. But they used to say: 'Even Petrucci gets 7th, and he earns ten times less.' Instead of thinking: 'Let's give Lorenza a bike to win, one capable of winning three world championships.' It was difficult to predict."
What Lorenzo earned (€ 25 million for two seasons), was always a topic of dicsussion, and was even criticized.
"I consider myself a champion because I an a champion. And that's why I was hired and paid that amount ," he explained. "I was the 2015 world champion. There was no big difference compared to what I was getting in Yamaha. I went for a challenge, but I wouldn't have left for anything less. All the riders who race in the MotoGP are great riders, but they are not champions. Valentino, Marquez and I are. It was an irrefutable truth. And I proved it again. The tank was the last thing. Before that, a piece had arrived that made the bike gentler and two aerodynamic evolutions."
Jorge also spoke of his relationship with Dovizioso, which has never been particularly good.
“Since the beginning, I approached the project with enthusiasm. It wasn't a facade. I was happy that he had won. I went under the podium to celebrate," he stated. "I don't know why, maybe Dovi had a thorn in his side that I had won against him in the 250. He always had it in for me, and he attacked me in the media."
After leaving Ducati, he embarked on the Honda adventure, which was a failure.
"I found a bike I never felt comfortable with in terms of size," he explained."It was super small, it was uncomfortable for my legs. Mine are longer than Marc's. I told the engineers, and they were surprised. I bend a lot, and my feet touched the ground. However, with the 2018 bike, I had been fourth in the tests in Jerez. It was quite competitive, and I had a wrist injury and a bad foot. But, with the 2019 bike, apart from the problems in size, I had problems with braking. It wasn't natural for me. My injuries left their mark. Maybe, without the injury at Assen, I would have had more patience to continue another year with another bike. But I saw that being competitive was a long way off. I thought and felt that the best thing was to stop and enjoy other aspects of life."
Lorenzo first fought against then shared the garage with Marquez and knows how to beat him.
"You have to go faster than he does and not make mistakes, so he's the one who has to risk, have a better bike, be a car, mentally," which is the recipe, "Like in 2015. Marc was more explosive, but we commanded the races, and he had to take risks. That's what Quartararo or Viñales should do. But, now, Marquez is still the fastest.”
He then praised Rossi.
“Valentino is incredible. He's unparalleled. Being 41 or 42 years old and racing in the MotoGP is an enormous merit. Nobody has ever done it. If he finds better confidence with the bike, he could win again. I firmly believe that," he said.
