LORENZO RETIRES,
MARQUEZ JR STEPS UP
I
n a move few saw coming, Jorge Lorenzo
announced he was retiring from MotoGP, with
the Spanish racer calling time on a stellar career.
Since stepping up to MotoGP in 2008, Lorenzo has
enjoyed a riding career which many other riders could
envy. With 47 wins, three MotoGP championships
and 43 poles, Lorenzo’s career has been one of
the more successful in the MotoGP arena, but
in recent years with multiple switches between
manufacturers, the former world champion just
couldn’t seem to find the fire to wrestle the MotoGP
championship title from teammate Marc Marquez.
The announcement of who was stepping into the
fold at HRC Honda to replace Lorenzo was also
a surprise, with none other than Alex Marquez
stepping up from Moto2 to join MotoGP Champion
and big brother Marc on a one-year contract.
26 KIWI RIDER
With the first round of testing taking place in
Valencia, the younger Marquez still has much to learn
on the top-teir bike placing in 22nd fastest (brother
Marc was 7th quickest) during the test session.
“I’m quite happy with how the test went, lap-by-
lap we are understanding the bike more and more.
I did a lot of laps today so physically I am a little
tired because I’m still a bit stiff on the bike but this
will improve with more laps. We did a lot on used
tyres to improve our pace and learn the behaviour
more. Of course, we still need to improve more
and work on some things, but I am satisfied with
what we have done today and in this test. Now
we go to Jerez, I’m looking forward to being on
the bike again after really enjoying the bike.”
This still leaves one question:
Will Valentino Rossi ever retire...?