IF MARC Marquez ever raised an eyebrow at the suggestion of his Repsol Honda team signing Jorge Lorenzo for the 2019 MotoGP World Championship season, the Spaniard is now actively encouraging the three-time champion to ‘show his potential’ amidst talk of a shock split.
Whilst the original notion of Lorenzo joining Honda was perceived as potentially disruptive to Marquez, the five-time champion was comfortably out-performing his new team-mate even before Lorenzo injured himself in a crash at Assen.
Currently on the sidelines as he recovers from a back injury, Lorenzo has nonetheless been busy behind the scenes following word that he has approached both Ducati and Yamaha about returning in 2020, even though he has 18 months of his contract with Honda to honour.
Marquez throws down the challenge to Lorenzo
When quizzed about the rumours, in words that could be interpreted as ‘goading’ Lorenzo to do his duty and measure himself directly against Marquez on equal machinery, he said:
“What I only know is that Jorge has one more year's contract with Honda. Jorge is Jorge and what he says is 'he's not [just] a great rider, he's a champion' and if he's a champion, he is on a champion bike and he needs to come back and show his potential with the Honda bike and be in the top with the Honda bike.
“And his think it's his ego and his ambition and he will try to do, because if not it's something that will not arrive, his dream. I mean when you arrive in a project like HRC it's because you want to win races and fight for the championships.”
Lorenzo the puppet-master in the silliest of silly seasons
Lorenzo’s emergence as a potential pawn in a silly season many had considered to be over has ramifications at the highest-level.
With a return to Ducati potentially leaving Jack Miller – who hasn’t received a contract as yet – on the sidelines, the return of Lorenzo is unlikely to impress Andrea Dovizioso, who endured two somewhat fractious years alongside the Spaniard. When asked about the rumours, he said he ‘agreed with Marquez’ that he should focus on his current Honda deal.
All will become clearer in the next couple of weeks as Lorenzo returns to the fray.
Somewhere Jorge is almost certainly laughing along to this - who else could have shaken the MotoGP paddock up so much without actually being there…?
