MotoGP, Lorenzo: "Bagnaia has lost enthusiasm, he seems dull and negative"

In the Valencia paddock, during MotoGP testing ahead of the 2026 season, Jorge Lorenzo observes and comments as a former world champion but also as a careful analyst. Speaking with Paolo Scalera, the Mallorcan allowed himself to reminisce about the past - from his idolatry for Max Biaggi as a child to the years he lived next to Valentino Rossi - and analyzed the present: the potential of Pedro Acosta, the challenge (also mental) between Bagnaia and Márquez, Toprak Razgatlioglu's leap from Superbike to MotoGP, and the decisive role of engineers and crew chiefs. What emerges is a very lucid portrait of a changing MotoGP, where there is no shortage of roosters in the henhouse and the psychological factor weighs as much as engine horsepower.

Do you still remember when, as a kid, we met up at Max Biaggi's motorhome in Jerez?
"Beautiful, what a day, what a thrill. I remember that time very well - I cried for Max, for example, in a race he had with Ralf Waldmann in 1997, the year he won with Honda. Waldmann and Max were very similar, and in the end Waldmann passed him on the last lap. I was 10 years old and I cried because I wanted Max to win and he didn't win. Imagine what kind of idolatry I had for him."

Today, apart from Márquez, you no longer see a rider who comes in a new category, takes pole and wins immediately, like Biaggi at Suzuka against Doohan. Why is it so difficult for it to happen again?
"Today it's even more difficult for it to happen. Moto2 doesn't have electronics and MotoGP feels like a spaceship, there's too much difference. You have to get used to something very different from what you're used to, and you have to do it with very little testing. You have Valencia for one day, maybe three days in all, then you're off for two months - you don't have time to get used to it. The rookies have a few more tests, but still very little."

Pedro Acosta: is he really the only one who, with the same bike, can beat Márquez?
"One guy who could have done what Biaggi did is really Pedro Acosta, in his debut year, if he had a Ducati. For sure he would have done better than he did with the KTM. Pedro Acosta with the Ducati would be very dangerous for Márquez. Márquez is very strong, certainly even more complete than Pedro. But Acosta has youth on his side, he hasn't had any major injuries, he is "whole," very strong. He's an animal: he works like an animal, from six in the morning to ten at night."

In what sense does he "work like an animal"?
"He wakes up at six in the morning, goes to the gym two-three hours, eats, has another gym session, then takes a half-hour siesta and comes back to do a double training session. He is a 100 percent professional athlete."

Did you train the same way?
"More or less, yes. I used to wake up a little later because I liked to sleep, maybe at eight o'clock, however, I worked a lot too."

Let's talk about Toprak. In Superbike everyone saw his enormous braking confidence. But in MotoGP everything changes: carbon brakes, very different bikes. How do you imagine his adaptation?
"Look, in my time Colin Edwards came from Superbike and made podiums with Yamaha, even though he was riding a very different bike from the one he won with in SBK. If Edwards and Ben Spies were able to win a race or go very fast, why can't Toprak do it? Of course, now Yamaha is not in its best moment, and that doesn't help. If Toprak had come to MotoGP when Yamaha was the best bike, he would have changed history. Now there are also Pirelli tyres coming in 2027: he has experience with those tyres, the others don't. They won't be exactly the same tyres he uses today in Superbike, but the feeling will be similar and he will already have a year of experience. He will arrive in 2027, in my opinion, very strong. That said, MotoGP bikes are very rigid prototypes. In Superbike everything moves because the bikes are not as rigid. The Yamaha, because of his riding style, is probably the most difficult bike: you have to be very precise, you can't brake like he does 'all the way to the kitchen.'"

Many of your former colleagues today are test riders. You, on the other hand, stopped, raced cars, we saw you with the Porsche, but now?
"No, I do many things. I'm a commentator. The search for adrenaline, you say? I find it in other ways. I do some days with an electric motorcycle sponsor and then ... simulator with the PlayStation. I can play Gran Turismo, Formula 1, Assetto Corsa, racing games and racing in general."

In the simulator at least you don't get hurt....
"That's right. The difference is that when you make a mistake with Assetto Corsa you don't get hurt and you don't have 50,000 or 70,000 euros of damage with the car. Even your wallet doesn't feel it."

What car do you have now in real life?
"Now I only have a second-hand Smart car that I left in Lugano. I don't have any sports car anymore. I had all the cars you could have: F40, F50, Enzo Ferrari, Lamborghini SVJ63, Pagani - I had them all. Now I have nothing."

Coming to the World Championship, many were disappointed: we expected a great duel between Márquez and Bagnaia, and instead we saw extreme situations, such as the victory at Motegi and then the next race in which he finished practically last. How is such an alternation possible?
"We have to understand that Bagnaia was in an ideal, almost idyllic situation: the only rider to have won two world championships with Ducati, Italian on an Italian bike, the factory all with him ... he was perfect. Then Ducati decided to take a rooster among the roosters: seven, eight world titles, stronger in the media, plus it happened that technically he was stronger. That psychologically starts to create doubts in you, you lose a little bit of confidence, you have less confidence. Then when you go on the track, subconsciously you go slower. I think this year's bike also has something that doesn't make him feel completely comfortable. That's my theory: it's not just mental. But everything together - Márquez much stronger, the bike he doesn't like - creates so much difference."

What can he do now? You improve the bike a little bit, but the head is much more complicated....
"The problem is that it seems that the Ducati 2026 will not change so much. Surely these three months off will help him to break away. In my opinion, he lacks some enthusiasm, some cheerfulness: from the outside he looks dull, negative to me. That's my impression, maybe that's not the case. If someone first of all were to help him regain enthusiasm and cheerfulness, everything else would come accordingly."

You came to MotoGP in Valentino's team and went strong right away. Then Rossi went to Ducati, came back, you were two roosters in the same henhouse. What differences do you see from today?
"The difference is that in 2013 I was clearly stronger; Valentino came back with a little lower profile, it cost him a lot to find his speed again with Yamaha. It wasn't the same situation, because he found himself a little bit slower, even three tenths, half a second. In 2014 Bridgestone changed tyres and he was better: he was second in the championship and I was third. We were closer, but he was never clearly stronger than me as Márquez is today on Bagnaia. I'll give you another example: in 2011 Ben Spies came from Superbike and in pre-season and in the first races he was so strong, I suffered him. In the end he was stronger in 2011. But in 2012 I was going one second faster and he collapsed psychologically: when you see Lorenzo one second faster, your confidence starts to drop. And then the bad luck comes: you break your bike, someone knocks you down ... when it rains it pours. With Bagnaia it's similar: you go slower, and even more bad things happen to you."

Does it surprise you that today the most advanced manufacturers are Italian, Ducati and Aprilia?
"It surprises me because they have less money than the Japanese. In Formula 1, who wins? Usually whoever has the most money: Ferrari, McLaren... Now it's changed a little bit because they put the same electronics, the same tyres, but if you can change everything - tyres, electronics, chassis - usually whoever has the most money wins: they make the strongest car or the strongest bike and they can pay the best drivers too. That's why it surprises me that 'little' factories like Ducati and Aprilia are dominating giants like Honda and Yamaha."

You know Gigi Dall'Igna well. What is your assessment of his role in all this?
"In my opinion the big mistake Honda made is not taking Dall'Igna. They tried to, but maybe not hard enough. If they had taken him, Márquez would have stayed at Honda and today Honda would be winning championships."

Honda, however, got Romano Albesiano, who did well in Aprilia.
"I don't know him personally. For sure he is a good engineer, because he did very well in Aprilia, but I don't have enough direct knowledge to judge him."

If you had to make your own team today, what bike would you choose, what engineers and what riders would you take?
"To win immediately, next year, I would take Ducati, Márquez and Acosta. On the other hand, if we are talking about a three-to-four-year project, I would take Honda, Dall'Igna, Acosta and Márquez: that would be the winning project."

What about as crew chief? He is a key figure to keep the rider focused.
"Ramon Forcada, for example, was in my opinion the best technician in terms of suspension knowledge. But he also had some not-so-good sides: a not-so-easy personality and a tendency to change a lot. He liked to change a lot, so you had to control him so that he didn't overdo the changes. At the suspension level, though, he is number one. I myself am a perfectionist, I always like to try, try, try ... so together we were a bit "dangerous" from that point of view. Then there was Gabarrini, a very calm person, very empathetic to the rider, with very good technical qualities. It's difficult to choose between the two: they are different profiles, both good."

Are you curious about these tests toward the 2026 World Championship, or do you expect another championship dominated by Márquez?
"If you knew the future, you would also know who will win... We don't know, however, if you have to bet today, you have a better chance by choosing Márquez. If we all knew the outcome, we would be millionaires: we would all take the same number in the lottery. The real question for me is another one: who will be the two surprises next year and who will be the two disappointments? Every year it happens. In 2025 the big disappointments were Bagnaia and Martín, for different reasons. Surprises? Alex Márquez and Bezzecchi."

Alex, in my opinion, is an underrated rider: he won Moto3 and Moto2, he was world champion in both categories. He's not someone who immediately strikes you as being "special," he's more of a diesel that comes in slow, makes few mistakes. His style is not flashy: he is not as aggressive as Acosta, he is not spectacular aesthetically, a bit like Aleix Espargaró. But it is effective.
"I myself didn't have a spectacular style in the sense of 'numbers': I didn't go in sideways everywhere, however, I was elegant, like Eddie Lawson, John Kocinski, Max Biaggi. Alex's style may not be the most glamorous, but he improved so much and, most importantly, he didn't throw in the towel. That's very deserving."