Five-time world champion Jorge Lorenzo recalls his time in MotoGP and his rivalry with Valentino Rossi.
Jorge Lorenzo left the MotoGP at the end of 2019, after eighteen seasons, five championship titles and 68 GPs won. Last May he was finally able to celebrate his entry as a ‘MotoGP Legend’, after the event was postponed in 2020 and 2021 due to health restrictions within the paddock. From this year he is also a commentator for Dazn, as well as having participated in his first car championship with Porsche.
Three years after his resignation, the five-time champion points out the differences between the league MotoGP of his time and that of today. He starts from the assumption that he has made the best decision for his life, he certainly doesn’t miss that pressure of when he was a rider, the risk of going out on the track, the constant requests from the team and sponsors. Furthermore, the Honda with which he raced in his last World Championship was difficult to steer,”then that injury at Assen interrupted my career or accelerated my retirement“.
Jorge Lorenzo and the rivalry with Valentino Rossi
The most interesting part of the interview granted to Motorbikemag.es concerns the spirit of great rivalry and the presence of figures with strong personalities on the track, an ingredient that is lacking in today’s MotoGP. “Dorna has done a good job, but the figure of Valentino Rossi has helped the sport a lot in terms of popularity. This is indisputable. Then, his great rivals took advantage of his fame, because he also paid attention to us“. Jorge Lorenzo he had a very strong and different character from that of the champion from Tavullia, this helped to spice up the show.
For some years now, cordiality has reigned among the riders in the premier class, there are no more squabbles in the press conferences, according to the Majorcan, the winners would not have the same charisma or character as they used to. “Even I haven’t gotten used to these new names yet, or maybe there isn’t a dominator like before. I remember that F1 was not the same before Schumacher arrived, because he was a great dominator; ditto when Michael Jordan was missing in basketball, and when there will be no more Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in football there will be a decline“.
In his long career Jorge Lorenzo has had to deal with champions such as Valentino RossiCasey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa, Marc Marquez…”With Marquez we say we are at 50%-50%, he always wanted to win, regardless of whether he felt comfortable or liked the circuit or not, he never gave up. Perhaps Marquez was more cannibal in this“, concluded the former MotoGP rider. “But Rossi was a great detacher, the one who braked later and was very creative, he could invent an overtaking move at any time“.
