Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/713106
VOL. 53 ISSUE 31 AUGUST 9, 2016 P109 state of his psyche. Head games are an important part of racing. Just ask Rossi, who has made a speciality of disassembling the confidence of rivals including most famously Max Biaggi, and a number of others. Step forward Sete Gib- ernau, Marco Melandri, and in- deed almost anyone fast enough to pose a threat. And Jorge Lorenzo? Hitherto the Spaniard has been pretty much impervious to psychological assault from his off-and-on teammate, and there is no clear reason for that to have changed. In spite of Rossi's full-on anti-Spain initiative of last year, centered around Lorenzo and Marquez (the latter in par- ticular seems to have gained rather than lost strength as a result of it.) But Lorenzo has crashed eight times this season, including two zero-score race falls. Although one of those was caused by the human cannon ball Andrea Ian- none. Whatever has undone him in 2016 seems to have come from within. A conclusion in keeping with his very complex character. Jorge is not a warm personality, but he is intelligent, articulate, analytical, rather enigmatic, and with a deep well of self-belief. Deep, but clearly not bottom- less. For it goes right the other way when the weather turns bad. Lorenzo is not a bad wet rider. It's not that he's scared of the rain, per se. But there is something about it that can completely undermine the self-belief that is usually one of his strongest weapons. Watching Jorge over the years, however, it has been impossible not to note another of his strongest weapons. The one he uses to beat up on himself. There have been many occa- sions when he has clearly been his own worst enemy. And not only when making one of his public relations gaffes. Like love and hate, self- respect and self-loathing clearly go hand in hand, at least in his case. It seems to have started with his famous crash at Assen in 2013. Riding high as defending champion, in a sodden practice session, he touched a white line in practice on the fastest corner, smashed his collarbone, flew straight to the hospital, and re- turned to race to a heroic fifth 48 hours later. It was marvelously brave. But ever since then, he has been spooked by the wet. Never more so, however, than at the last two races, Assen (10th) and Sachsenring (15th). In both cases, he was a pitiful shadow of a grand prix rider, and it was far from comfortable to watch. It cast my mind back to some other collapses of talent in the past. Most ironically that of Fred- die Spencer, once virtually un- beatable, turning in the space of a few months into a very average (if for a while very overpaid) GP rider. The talent that had once illuminated every race and cast a shadow over his rivals suddenly became a muted glow. It was as though he had forgotten how to ride. It's an odd example because if there is any parallel from that era it would be Freddie's rival Eddie Lawson, nicknamed "Steady" for the sort of smooth, inch-perfect riding and considered consis- tency that are hallmarks also of Lorenzo. It is Marquez who shows the Spencer touch: going fast enough to crash at almost every corner, and then having the talent to save it, without even slowing down. Another more recent parallel is even less comfortable. Can anyone think of a rider of surpassing talent who went, over one winter, from a reliable win- ner to a dismal also-ran? Yes— none other than Rossi. When he moved from Yamaha to Ducati. Exactly what Lorenzo is doing next year. CN