MotoGP, Lorenzo on father Chicho: “He was like a sergeant, like Hitler”

In the life of all athletes, there’s a before and an after, and Jorge Lorenzo has been enjoying his new life as a former rider since last year. The Majorcan has definitively cut the cord with the motorcycling world and is enjoying life at his home in Lugano, relaxing and taking on new professional commitments.

A new and happy life

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Interviewed for the “Espejo Público” show, Lorenzo has admitted that, having hung up his helmet, his quality of life has improved: “I’m happier now than when I raced. I’m a perfectionist and so when I do something, I do it to the nth degree. I would spend all day thinking how to improve, I’d spend 6 or 7 hours a day training”. But some sensations are hard to come by now: “I miss winning. I preferred winning to riding”.

From father to son

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His career began thanks to father Chicho, with whom he had a stormy relationship until not so long ago. The 34-year old comments: “He was the one who got me into this world, this was his passion. He built me a bike for my first race when I was three. He was like a sergeant, a Hitler-type, like one of those trainers working with Chinese or Russian gymnasts. He taught me many important values, like discipline, and that nothing happens by chance”.

And if he himself were to become a father? He is clear on this: “I’d do all I could to ensure he didn’t become a rider”.

Honda chapter

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He ran his last races wearing the colours of one of the most prestigious teams, Repsol Honda, but the 2019 season was an uphill climb right from the off: “It was very emotional, people talked about the Dream Team, with me and Marquez, we were the two riders who had won the most during the previous ten years. But I broke my scaphoid over the winter, and then a rib in the first race, I didn’t adapt to the bike, the Honda was a surprisingly complicated machine and the results didn’t come. I wasn’t able to hold on, despite having another year on my contract”.

Translated by Heather Watson

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