Valencia GP – The reasons for the retirement of Jorge Lorenzo –

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The reasons for Jorge Lorenzo’s retirement

Valencia GP - The reasons for the retirement of Jorge Lorenzo -

Jorge Lorenzo finally bows out of MotoGP a season before the end of his contract with Honda-Repsol, defeated by his repeated injuries and his inadequacy to the official RRS. End clap for the five-time Grand Prix world champion, including three times in the premier category…

Jorge Lorenzo Guerrero, 32, will compete this Sunday in Valencia (Spain) for the last Grand Prix of his immense career, marked by some 68 successes, including 47 in MotoGP. The Mallorcan, nicknamed "Por Fuera" for his overtaking from the outside in his debut, is one of the few to have distinguished himself in the premier class with two different motorcycles: Yamaha and Ducati.

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But the reluctant Honda – and the falls which are associated with it – will have finally got the better of his talent and especially his motivation: the association "HRC-Lorenzo", as promising as it was on paper, ended in a fiasco and a modest 11th place as the best result at the French GP.

In delicacy with the front axle of his RC213V, "Jorgeuil" never managed to find the confidence necessary to express his speed. This is not for lack of trying, even if it means being seriously injured during his two big consecutive falls at the GP of Catalonia (at the start of the race and then during the tests) followed by a terrible high side at the GP of the Netherlands. Low…

The fall of too much in Assen

The five-time world champion, picked up with two broken vertebrae, admits to having at that moment – and for the first time – felt the urge to throw in the towel: "I must admit that when I got up in the gravel, I wondered if it was really worth it to continue to suffer after what I had already achieved ".

The pain and its attendant doubts would settle in all the more easily as Lorenzo has never been in complete shape since his arrival at Honda: Marquez’s teammate was trailing old injuries following his end of the 2018 season at Ducati , then injured his left wrist in January.

His body bruised by multiple fractures (shoulders, ankles and wrists) said "stop", but his fighting spirit, he could not bring himself to do: "after my falls, I came home and j decided to give it a try: I didn’t want to make a decision too early, so I continued ".

Once again, Jorge Lorenzo clenched his teeth, thinking he’d brave the difficulties to find his way back to success. But his commendable efforts – and those of Honda to meet his expectations – were not enough: the No. 99 stuck at the back of the grid, taking up to two seconds per lap by his teammate Marc Marquez !

 Valencia GP - The reasons for the retirement of Jorge Lorenzo -

"You know that I like to drive, I like competition, I like this sport … but above all I like to win. But I realized at one point that that was not possible, at least not in the short term with Honda ", analyzes the champion with lucidity.

"The truth is that from that moment (his fall in Assen, editor’s note), the coast was too big and I no longer found the motivation to climb this mountain", he said with franchise during its press conference.

Lorenzo "out", Zarco "in" ?!

"I must say that I feel really sorry for Honda, especially for Alberto (Puig, manager of the HRC, Editor’s note), who is the one who gave me this opportunity: unfortunately, I must say that I disappointed him and I I also disappointed Honda ", admits Lorenzo who we feel affected by this failure.

 Valencia GP - The reasons for the retirement of Jorge Lorenzo -

Jorge Lorenzo, 19th in the provisional with 25 meager points, hangs up his combination after 18 seasons, 297 starts and 152 podiums in the Grands Prix. His debut in 125 cc dates back to 2002 at the age of 15 – at the time he had to wait until the third GP (in Spain) to race! – and his career has five titles: two in 250 cc and three in MotoGP.

If his withdrawal is understandable in view of his results (or rather his lack of results …), his decision nonetheless surprised many people in the paddock: Lorenzo still assured last week that he wanted to go until end of his contract with Honda, arguing in particular that the rest of the offseason would allow him to permanently heal his wounds !

His departure frees up a place of choice in the reference team: Cal Crutchlow was logically quick to join the ranks, but the HRC has already warned that Moto2 world champion Alex Marquez and the former KTM rider Johann Zarco were also among the possible candidates. The French rider decidedly had a hollow nose to turn to Honda LCR to replace Nakagami, instead of accepting Yamaha’s test rider offer! To be continued on MNC: stay connected !

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