“I can still fight for titles, but it’s not worth it” – Jorge Lorenzo
Jorge Lorenzo believes he is still capable of winning MotoGP World Championships but says it isn't worth the price of potentially getting injured again
Jorge Lorenzo maintains he is still capable of challenging for MotoGP World Championships but says it ‘isn’t worth it’ because he has already achieved that goal.
The Spaniard returns to Yamaha – with whom he won his three MotoGP titles - this season as a test rider after retiring at the conclusion of the 2019 season in the wake of an injury-ridden season with Repsol Honda.
To date Lorenzo has participated in a handful of tests on the Yamaha M1 and had been due to make his race return at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona in June as a wildcard, though the onset of the coronavirus pandemic means this may now not go ahead.
Taking to his Instagram channel to answer a handful of questions submitted by followers, Lorenzo discussed a range of topics that included whether he thought he was still competitive in a racing environment and why he re-joined Yamaha.
With the latter in mind, Lorenzo says his ‘sensitivity’ on the bike makes him an ideal choice for Yamaha to extract performance from the M1, a machine that is known for prioritising sweeter handling over outright power.
He also believes that with the right team he is still capable of challenging for wins and world championships but says ‘it isn’t worth it’ having suffered a number of injuries over the past two seasons.
“Yamaha is looking forward to winning again. They have a complete bike and very strong riders. And now they have me, the most sensitive driver to improve it even more.
“I honestly think that with the right bike I could still fight for races and world championships, but it was not worth it anymore. It was something I had already done. I am more encouraged to become good at doing other things while enjoying life. I retired, but I can still ride a MotoGP bike.”
He also defended his performance on the Repsol Honda in 2019. Lorenzo endured a torrid year on the RC213V relative to title-winning team-mate Marc Marquez, but he insists injuries simply prevented him from ever adapting to it.
“I didn’t have time to adapt to the bike because of the injuries I had. I couldn’t drive naturally,” he said.#
Demonstrating he hasn’t lost his sense of humour, Lorenzo was entertainingly candid in response to other questions, answering ‘who will be the next Jorge Lorenzo’ with ‘my first child’ before coming back at a troll who asked ‘why are you so stupid’ with ‘in solidarity, I don’t want you to feel alone in the world’.
Touché Jorge, touché!
Last week, Lorenzo sent out an impassioned plea to his followers to respect the rules being placed on the wider public in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, urging them to adhere to the 'stay at home' messages being promoted.
