Obviously, Jorge Lorenzo has not competed in MotoGP for 7 seasons. The Mallorcan rider hung up his monkey at the end of 2019 and although in 2020 he became a Yamaha tester, and there was speculation about the possibility of him competing as a guest rider, the pandemic ended up putting an end to his racing career.
What might or might not have been upon his return to Yamaha we will never know. What is certain is that before retiring he became one of the great champions in history, with three titles in MotoGP and another two in 250. In addition, he was the only one capable of winning a world championship from Marc Márquez until he was injured in 2020, which is said to be soon.
The fact is that behind that entire sporting career there are thousands of anecdotes, and several of them have been told by Jorge himself on the Fast & Curious podcast hosted by Mika Pérez and Rodrigo López. Lorenzo, now in the role of representative of one of the promises of the future such as Víctor Cubeles, reveals some very well-kept secrets.
One of them, analyzing his capabilities, leads him to compare himself with the technical capabilities of Valentino Rossi and Marc Márquez. The Mallorcan, who never shies away from the fight and is characterized by being quite direct, talks about how Marc was able to take advantage in the left curves that he was never able to achieve. In the only year they shared a team, Lorenzo was injured for much of it, but he still recognizes that he was trying to stop in the style of Márquez and it was not possible.
Lorenzo shared a box with Rossi and Márquez in two key moments of his career
That same thing but at the first moment of his MotoGP career and he coincided with Valentino Rossi, leaves a detail that has always been said but that has never been explained as Jorge has done now. It was always said that Rossi braked better because he braked earlier, but behind that mental gibberish there was a technique.
And as Lorenzo himself acknowledges, in full sixth gear, before braking and cutting off the gas, he lightly gripped the front brake. Lorenzo tried to reply, but in this case the Spaniard’s hands were smaller and did not allow it. In any case, Valentino’s technique has a lot of logic and it made the weight transfer smoother, which in turn allowed him to brake much more forcefully.
Also, he talks about his role as a tester at Yamaha and how the Japanese decided to put aside the collaboration. Something that Lorenzo believes did not help Yamaha and that, seeing the brand’s results since then, is a fairly accurate diagnosis.
The rest of Pérez and López’s interview leaves us with many other experiences and how they affected him and how he faced them. A lesson that, without a doubt, Cubeles is taking advantage of as demonstrated by his first victory in the FIM MotoJunior last weekend.
