Lorenzo's revelation: "I signed for Honda without telling anyone. In Ducati I had my back to the wall"

Bologna, 11 December 2024 – Turbulent last years of Jorge's career Lorenzo after the 2015 world title. Everyone remembers that title, won in a sprint over Valentino Rossi, his teammate, amidst the controversy over the behavior of Marquez, accused by the Doctor of having made him lose the tenth title of his career. That victory, according to Jorge, contributed to undermining his future with the three tuning forks and in fact, shortly after, he decided to go to Ducati for two years. The relationship with Dall'Igna has always been solid and a short chat on the phone was enough to get to the wedding. But also in Ducati Lorenzo he didn't find the right harmony, especially after a triple fall involving his teammate Andrea Dovizioso. And then everything is resolved with another escape route, Honda, on the advice of Marc Marquez.

Lorenzo: “I signed without telling anyone”

The story is well known. Lorenzo wins the 2015 world cup, but cohabitation with Vale Rossi it gets difficult, especially after the accusation of a sacred alliance with Marquez to make him lose, so Jorge starts looking around and chooses Ducati, where there is Dall'Igna who knows him well. The story of Lorenzo in a documentary by Dazn Spain: “At the end of 2015 I was looking for new stimuli and, when I won the title, Yamaha didn't show much enthusiasm. In the media they preferred Rossi. So I called Gigi Dall'Igna and from there it all started”, Lorenzo's words. But also in Ducati becomes difficult, the bike is different, with characteristics opposite to Yamaha while Lorenzo thinks he can ride it anyway: "The Ducati was very stable in braking and was fast on the straight, but it didn't have the same fluidity as the Yamaha - Lorenzo again - But in 2017 I closed the season going strong and Ducati was also happy with me, so for 2018 I was very confident". And what happens? An accident in Jerez, where Lorenzo throw down Dovizioso, then rival of Marquez for the world championship: “The season didn't go well and then there was that crash in Jerez with Dovizioso and Ducati didn't like it. They were getting impatient”. Another lap, another gift. Lorenzo he is working towards an interview with Puig, responsible for Honda, and an agreement arrives: "I found myself with my back to the wall and I called Puig and I signed with Honda, nobody knew. At Mugello I won five days after signing with the Japanese". And for Honda also comes the blessing of Marquez, who had already perceived the danger of the Desmosedici that had allowed Dovizioso to fight for the title. Marquez convinced the top brass to focus on Lorenzo: “When Jorge was in Ducati I made it clear to Honda that they had reached our level and the best strategy was to take Lorenzo. A five-time world champion had to be taken to prevent Ducati from beating us”. Things didn’t go well for the gold wing with an eleventh place as his best result and a series of crashes, especially the one in Holland that made him miss the next three GPs.

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