Jorge Lorenzo critical of Yamaha: “They lost their way, I could’ve helped them”
Lorenzo won all three of his MotoGP cham🥃pionships riding a Yamaha but his still seems to hold ill will over his brief stint as their test rider.
He was replaced by Cal Crutchlow, a decision which turned into a nasty war of words, bu🧸t now ꦦthree years later Lorenzo has questioned Yamaha’s progress.
“Yamaha have never had the best engine𝔉 or the most powerful engine,” he said. “Never in🦩 history.
“The way that the engine is made? ✱It’s not the best idea to have maximum power.
“This also gives the bike good characteristics - for example, st๊ability in the corners.
“To moꦡve the bike on🍌 the corners is more agile, more easy, more friendly to the riders.
“It looks like, in the past couple of years, 🐓they lost the st𒉰rong points but haven’t got exactly what they need from an engine point of view - with power or acceleration.
“Now it’s a bike that doesn’t have a strong point, like bef🌸🎐ore.
“✨I don’t say it’s a terrible bike because I’m sure it’s competitive but not enough to fight for the title.
“Especially when you have Pecco Bagnaia, who is very mature, and seven more Ducati🎃 riders. Then other brands, like KTM.
“It looks like they have lost their way.
“It is a pity becau𒉰se I was riding for them as a test rider. With me, you never know, but I knew the bike and I could have helped them to find a way, for the evolution of the bike.
“But now they have a different test rider.
“From the outside, it looks like they have lost their way. Hopefully they find their way again, 🃏like Honda, in the future.”
Yamaha delivered MotoGP championships for both Lorenzo and Va﷽lentino Rossi, and most recently won via Fabio Quartararo in 2021, although he has bemoaned his struggles since.
Lorenzo’s end-of-career stint as theirﷺ test rider was interrupt🍬ed by the pandemic but, at the time, he described Yamaha’s decision to replace him with Crutchlow as “exchanging gold for bronze".
Lorenzo used social media to add: "Saying that I'm not a🌜 good tester is like saying that✃ the Earth is square.
"Engineers and riders who shared the box with me in Yamaha and Ducati know how good I am in developing the bike and helping them to make itཧ faster.
"If we only talk about numbers, it's a fact tꦗhat after I left both team, the number🐲 of wins per season decreased.
"About Cal, he has been one of the ജriders with less wins and more crashes in the last 10 years.
"I think he will be a good tester... t🌼o test how hard is the bike."
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports🍬, to football, to F1.
