Marco Bezzecchi
Jorge Lorenzo’s last MotoGP title came in 2015, a season remembered for much more than his own triumphs.
The Spaniard couldn’t quite reach the highs of his third title in the following seasons, but he arguably should have gone back-to-back with Yamaha in 2016.
Lorenzo raced at a time when some of the greatest of all time were on the track, with the likes of Valentino Rossi, Marc Marquez, and Casey Stoner around.
Winning three MotoGP titles speaks volumes about his talent, dedication and speed. Joining Ducati in 2017 wasn’t the best way for him to wind up ending his career, though.
Which battle between Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo was your favourite?
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Rossi insulted Lorenzo in 2009 with some slightly over the top celebrations, following an intense battle at the Spanish Grand Prix, in front of the Spaniard’s home crowd.
When he claimed his third and final crown, Lorenzo told Rossi he was ‘clearly’ too slow to deserve beating him to the honours. It adds to the drama of 2015.
READ MORE: Jorge Lorenzo warns Marc Marquez that ‘even the greatest’ riders decline eventually
Jorge Lorenzo thinks Michelin ‘ruined’ his hopes of a fourth MotoGP title in 2016
Nowadays, Lorenzo says MotoGP needs real rivalries again, amid fears that the sport isn’t quite as competitive or aggressive as it once was.
Maybe that’s a modern thing, but in his day, it was everything on the line until the chequered flag. In 2016, he learned the hard way that sometimes things can change in an instant.
After Michelin’s rather chaotic tyre debut, including two rear blowouts, they changed their tyre. It didn’t favour Lorenzo, who had been really quick up until Argentina, when the balance shifted.
After finishing in the top two in five of the first six races, Lorenzo returned to those positions just twice across the rest of the campaign. His hopes were ‘destroyed’.
“Without the problem, I think I would’ve won a fourth championship, the easiest championship of them all,” he said in Mat Oxley’s Marc The Magnificent biography. “I was super-strong in the Sepang pre-season tests, 0.9 seconds faster than the next guy [Valentino Rossi].
“In the beginning, the Michelin rear was super-soft and super-performing. I like a lot to have a grippy rear tyre to make corner speed, so I won the first race in Qatar, then [Scott] Redding’s tyre exploded in Argentina.
“After that, Michelin made the rear rubber so much harder, then our problems started. It was a mess for us because the Yamaha was all corner speed, so this hard tyre destroyed us.”
READ MORE: Jorge Lorenzo admits it was ‘impossible’ to copy Marc Marquez even with his Honda telemetry
Did Jorge Lorenzo cost himself the 2016 MotoGP title?
Lorenzo kept a ‘secret’ from Rossi when they fought for titles against each other at Yamaha. In 2016, Rossi found more consistency than his rival.
Lorenzo wound up with three retirements, a 17th place, and a 15th place. Looking at the deficit to Marc Marquez at the end of the year, that made a huge difference.
That’s not to say he would’ve won a fourth title with a little more consistency, but he definitely would have applied more pressure during what was a very testing time for his fellow countryman.
He never really rediscovered his top form after that. Nowadays, he’s a mentor of Tech3’s Maverick Vinales, who himself has encountered some struggles in recent times.
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