Former MotoGP star Jorge Lorenzo believes Marc Marquez now shows extra respect in direction of rivals whereas battling with them on monitor, having initially discovered his antics to be “very aggressive”.
Lorenzo was one among Marquez’s foremost rivals throughout his golden interval within the 2010s, with the pair even changing into team-mates at Honda within the former’s closing season in 2019.
Their careers have taken totally different turns since then, with Lorenzo happening to turn out to be a commentator for Spanish broadcaster DAZN and Marquez becoming a member of the Gresini Ducati staff in 2024 after being saddled with accidents and an uncompetitive bike in his closing years at Honda.
Lorenzo admitted that he wasn’t a fan of Marquez’s model of racing when the latter graduated to the premier class in 2013 because the reigning Moto2 champion, however feels his countryman has modified the way in which he rides in opposition to different riders through the years.
“In 2013, I did not settle for his [Marc’s] means of racing, which was very aggressive,” the three-time champion stated at Competition dello Sport in Italy. “Now he has a bit extra ‘respect’ in direction of his rivals. It should be stated that the principles are stricter than ten years in the past.”
Marc Marquez, Repsol Hond and Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha
Photograph by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Pictures
Marquez received six titles in his first seven years in MotoGP, with Lorenzo – then at Yamaha – the one rider to interrupt his run when he triumphed within the controversial 2015 season.
Issues began going downhill for Marquez after Lorenzo retired from MotoGP, with a horrific crash on the 2020 season opener in Jerez leaving him with career-altering accidents.
It took a number of surgical procedures and extended layoff intervals to place the accident behind, however by the point he was near full health the Honda RC213V had slumped to turn out to be the slowest bike on the grid.
Lorenzo believes Marquez would have been capable of win a number of further titles had his arm not been damaged at Jerez 4 years in the past.
“He’s a beast on a sporting degree,” he stated of the 31-year-old. “Since 2020, he has had very unhealthy luck by way of his bodily situation. With out these issues, he would have received no less than two or three extra world championships.”
Marquez’s struggles at Honda prompted him to go away the Japanese producer with a yr left on his contract and be a part of Gresini at first of the 2024 season.
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing
Photograph by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Pictures
He’ll transfer as much as the manufacturing unit Ducati staff subsequent yr, partnering Francesco Bagnaia, and shall be able to problem for the championship for the primary time since 2019.
Lorenzo himself spent two seasons with Ducati in 2017-18 as a part of a multi-million cope with the goal of main the Borgo Panigale marque to its first title since 2007.
Though the Spaniard did hit his stride in his second season after a gradual adaptation, the partnership in the end ended with simply three wins as well.
He ended up transferring to Honda for what turned out to be his closing yr within the premier class, whereas Ducati slowly turned the Desmosedici right into a dominant bike.
Hailing Ducati’s normal supervisor Gigi Dall’Igna, Lorenzo stated he would have been capable of obtain the goal set out by Ducati had he stayed with the staff for a couple of extra seasons.
“We met in 2004, in my final yr in 125cc. Destiny introduced us collectively at Ducati,” he stated of Dall’Igna. “I used to be very sorry to not have received a title with the Italian model. I’m satisfied that, if I had stayed two extra years, we might have received it.
“Now it’s the greatest bike. It has no weak factors.”