IN
THE
WIND
P32
JORGE AND THE BIG RED BIKE
M
otoGP was unsur-
prised but nonethe-
less agog as the paddock
assembled in the wake of
the announcement that
Jorge Lorenzo had signed
with Ducati for 2017 and
2018 at the Jerez MotoGP,
April 23-24.
Quite apart from its own
importance, the move has
implications for several
other riders. Lorenzo did
his best to be tight lipped,
starting out with: "It was
the most important and
difficult decision of my
career, but 15 races
remain [with Yamaha] and
my focus is on the present
championship."
Pressed further, the
main reason had been "my
motivation," and a need to keep
it fresh.
"After so many years, to give
maximum effort every day—I
think I am one of the most pro-
fessional riders—I felt I needed
this new challenge to keep my
motivation."
He was cagey on his expecta-
tions, saying only: "It will proba-
bly be very fast on the straights."
But he was more forthcoming
about ex-Aprilia Ducati Corse
chief Gigi Dall'Igna, a close ally
in his 125-class years and his
two 250 titles.
"I always had a good rela-
tionship with Gigi, from 2004
with the Derbi. For me, he has
always been a genius as an
engineer—very successful in
whatever category.
"Now we have a new chal-
lenge but every year the evo-
lution of the bike has been
forward. This has been a big
influence.
"It is a risky decision, but a
calculated risky decision," he
concluded.
Yamaha Racing boss Lin Jar-
vis was also present at the con-
ference and raised a smile by
describing Lorenzo's defection
as "like asking a girl to dance
at a disco and she chooses the
bloke next to you."
It remains to be seen whether
Lorenzo will take his crew chief
Ramon Forcada or any of his
mechanics, as Rossi did when
he made the same move from
Yamaha to Ducati in 2011.
Asked directly, the rider said:
"I would like to keep some peo-
ple, but we didn't think about it
as part of the deal."
He also denied that he had
discussed the move with Duca-
ti's last champion and current
test rider Casey Stoner. Inside
information, however, was that
there had been plenty of con-
tact between the Spaniard and
the Australian.
Michael Scott
Jorge Lorenzo had
plenty of questions
to answer at Jerez.
