Jorge Lorenzo reckons his horror Assen crash earlier this year robbed him of his motivation to continue with Honda, the incident leaving him asking if it was “all worth it”.
Lorenzo announced in a special press conference ahead of the Valencian GP that the event would be his last as a professional rider, citing a lack of motivation that affected his “commitment to the sport”.
The three-time premier class champion said the crash at Assen-where he fractured his T6 vertebrae and was forced to miss four races as a result-made him realise how far he had to go to conquer the RC213-V, admitting he “couldn’t find the motivation to climb the mountain.”
“Everyone that works with me knows how much of a perfectionist I am, and how much energy and intensity I have put into my sport,” began Lorenzo.
“When I signed for Honda I got another big boost as it’s one of all riders dreams to sign for HRC, unfortunately injuries soon came to play an important role in my results and performance.
“Therefore I wasn’t in the right fitness to be fast and competitive, and this plus a bike that never felt natural to me prevented myself being as competitive as I wanted.
“I kept on working thinking it was only a matter of time before I would become fast, then when I started to see the light the nasty crash in the Montmelo test happened and then only days later I had the Assen accident.
“I have to admit I thought to myself as I was rolling through the gravel ‘Is it all worth it?’.
“The truth is that after this the mountain became so high, and then I simply couldn’t find the motivation to climb the mountain and conquer it.”
Lorenzo also revealed that a lack of motivation was the chief reason he decided to quit Yamaha and join Ducati ahead of the 2017 season.
“Being a perfectionist requires a lot of motivation, that’s why after nine years at Yamaha – even though they were probably the most enjoyable years of my career – I felt that I needed a change in order to keep the full commitment to my sport.
“That’s why I moved to Ducati, this gave me a big boost, and even though the result were very bad I used this as motivation to never give up and improve until I reached the beautiful and amazing Mugello victory in front of all the Ducati fans.”
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