Jorge Lorenzo talks Repsol Honda and 2019

11 years in MotoGP, winner of five World Championships, 282 races, 31 years old. Jorge Lorenzo starts a new challenge this season when he joins the Repsol Honda Team.  Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez will debut their full 2019 colours alongside the RC213V in Madrid later this month, January 23.

With a little over two months until the Qatar season opener, and now free to talk after his Ducati contract has expired in the new year, the 31 year old Mallorcan has offered his first official thoughts on his new partnership with Repsol Honda for MotoGP season 2019.

“Repsol Honda may be the most successful team in history. They have the most victories and titles. To compare them with a football team, they would be a Barça or a Real Madrid. There is no team with more titles and more importance worldwide than this one.

“Last season I rode a completely different bike, that was very big and very tall. Maybe it was a little too big for me. The Honda suits me better in terms of its dimensions. It is more compact, a smaller and lower bike, with which I can lean over better. I felt a little more confident when entering corners, because the closer you are to the ground, the more confidence you have. The first impression was positive and I saw a lot of potential there.

“One of the things that impressed me most was the ability of the Repsol Honda Team to react, providing what you ask for. I was quite clear, Honda took note of all my indications and within a few days they had everything ready -and we had a fuel tank almost one hundred percent to my liking.

“All riders have our strengths and our weaknesses. Marc also has them. I will try to learn from his strengths, and I guess he will try to learn from mine. We will push each other; I will want to beat him and he will want to beat me, and that always makes the team grow and helps provide new technical progress for the bike.

“When Repsol began sponsoring the Honda team in 1995 was when I started watching motorcycle racing on television. I remember the fights between Harada and my idol Max Biaggi in 250cc, but also 500cc tussles between Crivillé and Doohan, when Rossi signed for Repsol Honda and when Nicky Hayden won the World Championship in 2006. It’s a very successful team, with many victories and world titles, and now I will have the honour and pleasure of being able to belong to it.”

Source: MCNews.com.au