Marc Marquez has revealed in a brand new Ducati documentary that he urged Honda to signal Jorge Lorenzo to cease the Italian model from beating it in MotoGP.
Three-time MotoGP world champion Lorenzo made a bombshell transfer to the manufacturing unit Ducati squad on the finish of 2016 having spent his profession to that time at Yamaha.
On the time, Ducati was rebuilding its method again to the highest and had solely simply began successful once more in 2016 when Lorenzo joined for the next season.
Lorenzo solely scored three podiums in his first season on the Ducati, as team-mate Andrea Dovizioso in the end stepped as much as combat Marquez for the championship.
In a brand new DAZN documentary entitled La vida en rojo about Ducati, Marquez – who was a three-time champion by 2017 – made this revelation: “Simply when Lorenzo was already at Ducati, I mentioned [to Honda]: ‘They’ve arrived’.
“I mentioned one of the best technique is that you simply take Lorenzo and put him right here [at Honda]. If not, one other rider with one other model will beat you as a result of Lorenzo is Lorenzo, a five-time world champion.”
Lorenzo made one other gradual begin to the 2018 season, failing to crack the highest 10 till the fifth spherical of the marketing campaign in France – by which level, Ducati had already determined to half methods with its massive cash signing for 2019.
However simply weeks after making its choice to interchange Lorenzo with Danilo Petrucci, the Spaniard gained his first race with Ducati in Italy.
He backed this up on the following spherical in Barcelona, earlier than including a 3rd victory in Austria.
Harm on the Aragon GP in the end derailed his cost and Lorenzo solely scored factors as soon as after his Austria win, when he was twelfth on the Valencia finale.
Honda listened to Marquez, with the Japanese marque signing Lorenzo for the 2019 season.
However it proved to be an ill-fated transfer for Lorenzo, who struggled to adapt to the RC213V.
Two massive crashes within the Barcelona check and in apply at Assen – the latter leaving him with a again damage – in the end led him to the choice to name time on his MotoGP profession on the finish of 2019.
Lorenzo didn’t rating a prime 10 end on the Honda earlier than retiring, which he introduced on the remaining spherical of 2019.
Halfway by means of the yr, Ducati did enquire about bringing Lorenzo again into its fold at Pramac for 2019, although this in the end got here to nothing.
Marquez joins the manufacturing unit Ducati squad subsequent yr having switched to a Desmosedici for 2024 at Gresini after a number of tough years on the Honda, with the six-time MotoGP world champion managing three grand prix victories.
