Jorge Lorenzo Believes Marc Marquez Now Respects His Rivals More”/>
FORMER MotoGP racer, Jorge Lorenzo, believes Marc Marquez now shows greater respect for his rivals when fighting with them on the track, after previously considering Marquez’s behavior to be “very aggressive”.
Lorenzo was one of Marquez’s main rivals during his golden period in 2010. In fact, the two of them became teammates at Honda in Lorenzo’s final season in 2019.
Since then, their careers have diverged, Lorenzo becoming a commentator for Spanish television station DAZN and Marquez joining the Gresini Ducati team in 2024 after being burdened by injuries and an uncompetitive bike in his final years at Honda.
Lorenzo admitted he was not a fan of Marquez’s racing style when Marquez moved up to the premier class in 2013 as reigning Moto2 champion. However, he feels his compatriot has changed his way of racing when facing other racers over the years.
“In 2013, I didn’t accept his very aggressive way of racing,” said Lorenzo, quoted from Motorsport, Thursday (17/10).
“Now he has a little more ‘respect’ for his competitors. It must be said that the rules are stricter than ten years ago,” he continued
Marquez won six titles in his first seven years in MotoGP, with Lorenzo, then still at Yamaha, the only rider to break his record when he won in the controversial 2015 season.
Things started to go downhill for Marquez after Lorenzo retired from MotoGP, with a horrific crash at the 2020 season-opening race at Jerez leaving him with career-changing injuries.
It took several operations and a long period of rest to recover from the accident. However, when he had almost recovered, his Honda RC213V slumped and became the slowest motorbike on the grid.
Lorenzo believes Marquez would have been able to win several additional titles if he had not broken his arm at Jerez four years ago.
“He is a beast on a sporting level,” he said.
“Since 2020, he has had very bad luck in terms of his physical condition. Without that problem, he would have won at least two or three more world titles,” added Lorenzo
Marquez’s difficulties at Honda prompted him to leave the Japanese manufacturer with a year remaining on his contract and join Gresini at the start of the 2024 season.
He will move up to the factory Ducati team next year, partnering Francesco Bagnaia, and will be in a position to challenge for the title for the first time since 2019.
Lorenzo himself spent two seasons with Ducati in 2017-2018 as part of a multi-million dollar deal with the aim of bringing the Borgo Panigale team to its first title since 2007.
Although the Spaniard managed to achieve success in his second season after adapting slowly, the partnership ultimately ended with just three wins.
He eventually moved to Honda for his final year in the premier class, while Ducati slowly turned the Desmosedici into a dominant bike.
Lorenzo says he would have been able to achieve the targets set by Ducati had he stayed with the team for a few more seasons.
“I’m very sorry that I couldn’t win the title with the Italian brand. I’m sure, if I had stayed another two years, we would have won it,” he said.
“Now this is the best motorbike. This motorbike has no weak points,” concluded Lorenzo. (Z-1)
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