Jorge Lorenzo will be the big absentee from MotoGP this 2021 season. The Mallorcan appeared to be on the verge of getting back on the bike after a season as a test rider at Yamaha, which he actually spent with very few tests. However, The road that would have brought him back to Ducati never saw the light of day, and not even the road that seemed to point him towards Noale to try to finally get the Aprilia project to blossom.
However, it wasn’t such a bad thing for Jorge, who in the company of friends like Max Biaggi took a long vacation to Dubai in early 2021, having fun and enjoying the golden retirement of a five-time motorcycle world champion. The Spaniard spoke to the microphones of our Sky Sport TV colleagues. He talks about his present, the past and the numerous avenues he is currently considering for his future.
“I’m doing very well, I spent a long vacation in Dubai – explained Lorenzo – I wanted to stay there for 20 days, but I stayed longer. I wasn’t alone and even the friends I went with have postponed their return flight dates. We had a good time, it was hot and we did a lot of fun things. I just returned to Lugano a few days ago and got back to work. “
The future is obviously the first topic that Lorenzo deals with, who doesn’t seem the least bit concerned that he himself failed to find a match in MotoGP as a test rider in 2021.
“As you know, at the moment I broke off my relationship with Yamaha as a test rider. The possibility of going to Aprilia was discussed and there were contacts because I am a good friend of Massimo Rivola. We have known each other since he was was in Ferrari and we saw each other many times when I was a guest at the Grands Prix. We sat down to talk about it, but things didn’t go through. They chose to stick with the drivers they have. Right now there is no way to continue as a test rider, but honestly, if I don’t, I won’t lose my sleep. Now I have many projects in mind for my future that will be even more relaxed and stress-free than a MotoGP rider, but they are definitely things that are exciting for me and, above all, things that are new to me, things that I do didn’t have time for it beforehand. Another thing I keep open is commenting for some TV channels, it’s a possibility. I am also not ruling out giving my experience to some young drivers, maybe even becoming the manager of some young drivers for the future. “
Lorenzo: “As a driver, I’ve always been sensitive, at Yamaha we developed the M1 for everyone.”
Last season, both Quartararo and Vinales talked about the M1, describing the 2016 version as possibly the best ever and also the last to be developed by Jorge who had this to say on the subject.
“I think I’ve always been a very sensitive rider who could immediately understand which new things were good on the bike and which weren’t. It was always a trait of me as a kid. My dad made me ride a lot of different bikes and I knew how to adapt and understand right away. I’ve always had this skill and Yamaha relied on me to develop it until 2016 and we did an excellent development of the bike. Always follow the path of building a bike that is easy, intuitive for the rider and easy to ride by everyone. “
An approach that the Mallorcan kept in Ducati …
“I did such a job at Ducati, too, but from the outside I can’t know whether today’s motorcycles are superior or inferior to those of 2016. In theory, they are better because four years have passed and they developed the motorcycle. If we Thinking of the bikes on the grid, I don’t think Yamaha has the most complete bike it has in the years I’ve ridden them. “
Lorenzo also commented on Yamaha’s decision to move Valentino Rossi to Team Petronas.
“I was surprised that Yamaha decided to move him to Petronas. I didn’t expect it. I didn’t imagine it would happen, but I think in the end not much will change for Valentino.” Quartararo and Morbidelli have shown that you can also win with a bike that is theoretically worse than the factory riders and so I think it will be the same for Valentino. I don’t think he’s going to have any problems, but from a media perspective it’s surprising news. But in the end, Yamaha, like all companies, has to look to the future. I remember when I started Yamaha in 2008 they had to look for an alternative path. Valentino could have stopped or opted for F1 at that time, and Yamaha had to look to the future. That’s why they let me sign when I was young and now that Valentino is 41 years old, it’s normal for Yamaha to think about the future that necessarily goes through younger riders like Quartararo. A logical but surprising decision “.
Lorenzo: “Dovizioso and Dall’Igna? Every story always has two sides.”
There has also been some controversy between Dovizioso and Dall’Igna in the past few days. Lorenzo also had something to say.
“When a relationship breaks down, it’s normal for the two parties to have friction and each one thinks it was the other who made a mistake. There are always two sides to every story and Andrea defends his point of view, his pride and his image, and I believe Ducati and Dall’Igna are doing the same. In the end, I think it was a successful marriage for both of them. Andrea finished second in the championship three times, Ducati was fighting for the championship again after a few years when that wasn’t the case so I think both can be happy. But there was certainly some internal friction that we cannot understand from the outside and that led to the end of this relationship. “