Marquez says Lorenzo should "persist" at Honda MotoGP after exit rumours
MotoGP championship leader Marc Marquez says his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo "needs to" persist with his current Honda challenge, following suggestions that Lorenzo could depart after the 2019 season
Pramac Ducati rider Jack Miller admitted in the lead-up to MotoGP's Red Bull Ring weekend that there was "some truth" to reports linking Lorenzo to a potential return to the Ducati fold next year.
The 32-year-old rider, who won three MotoGP titles with Yamaha, has struggled to gel with Honda's RC213V bike.
Lorenzo scored just 19 points in his first seven races before he was sidelined by injury.
Asked about the possibility of a premature end to Lorenzo's two-year Honda deal, Marquez said: "What I only know is that Jorge has one more year with Honda.
"Jorge is Jorge, and what he says [is] 'he's not a great rider, he's a champion'.
"And if he's a champion, he's [going to be] on a champion bike [and] he needs to come back and show his potential with a Honda bike and be on the top with a Honda bike.
"And I think with his ego and his ambition, he will try to do [this] because if not, it's something that will not arrive [at] his ambition or 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."
Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso, who had an infamously tumultuous relationship with Lorenzo during their time as team-mates, said he "completely agreed" with Marquez's view.
"I don't know about Jorge's current situation, and I don't know how to judge it. He still has a one-year contract with Honda and these rumours are peculiar," said Dovizioso.
"But it doesn't concern me. I still have a year's contract and I'm focused on myself.
"I don't think his [Lorenzo] arrival [within the Ducati fold] would influence next season. We know what we need to improve and fight Marquez. The rest counts for very little."
Lorenzo's former Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi said the idea of the Honda reuniting with Ducati made "some sense".
But Rossi also pointed out that Lorenzo has been unfortunate with injuries during his stint at Honda.
"I think that he can ride this bike in some way, maybe he has to modify something [in his style]," said Rossi.
"He was also very, very unlucky, especially [with] the first injury with the flat-track bike before the first test.
"That one was a disaster for him because he arrived already injured and that moment of the season is crucial - because you can have six days riding the bike without the pressure of the weekend.
"He doesn't take the test and after, when you arrive at the race weekend, everything is more difficult because you don't have time, you have to push.
"Every time he did some mistake, he crashed and he had more injuries. It's a difficult situation at this moment, but he is with [a] factory Honda and with a bit more time, a bit more luck, he can be competitive."
Miller: Could be some truth to Lorenzo taking MotoGP ride rumours
Red Bull Ring MotoGP: Dovizioso beats Marquez late in first practice
Bathurst 12 Hour: Van Gisbergen Mercedes leads after first quarter
Shane van Gisbergen’s Triple Eight Mercedes headed Matt Campbell’s Manthey Porsche after three hours of racing at Mount Panorama in the Bathurst 12 Hour.
Tanak scores first Puma win in preparation for WRC Rally Sweden
Ott Tanak claimed his first victory driving an M-Sport Ford Puma after winning the Otepaa Winter Rally in preparation for next week’s World Rally Championship round in Sweden.
Ranking the worst Formula 1 cars to win a grand prix
Cars that rarely looked like contenders for victory have occasionally slipped through the net to become winners of world championship Formula 1 races. But which was the worst of the bunch?
Schumacher radio criticism highlighted F1 privacy change for Russell
George Russell says that the way an off-the-cuff radio remark criticising Mick Schumacher last year became a big deal shows how he is more under the spotlight in Formula 1.
The other Suzuki signing that could transform Honda's MotoGP form
Following Suzuki's decision to quit MotoGP, both of its former riders have landed at Honda for 2023. But perhaps its biggest signing from the now-defunct team could instead be a highly-rated technical manager. Is Ken Kawauchi the right man at the right time to steer HRC back to glory?
How the MotoGP paddock has offered refuge to Suzuki's former team
Suzuki's unexpected departure left more than 40 professionals virtually jobless for the 2023 MotoGP season. But that human drama has been successfully corrected by the paddock itself, with most former Suzuki crew-members absorbed into other operations
How one MotoGP team went from title fights to losing it all in four years
The Petronas Sepang Racing Team came into MotoGP with a bang in 2019 as regular front-runners, with wonder rookie Fabio Quartararo mounting a title challenge in 2020. But it all went wrong for the Razlan Razali-helmed squad as the team changed hands and tumbled down the order - and RNF Racing plans to right this in 2023
Is MotoGP's comeback king ready to reclaim his throne?
Marc Marquez’s sixth premier MotoGP title seems a long time ago given the injury woes he has faced in the three years since. At the end of a fraught 2022, in which he had a fourth major operation on his right arm, the Spaniard speaks exclusively to Autosport
How MotoGP’s underachiever is working to reverse its fortunes in 2023
As European manufacturers emerged as the strongest force in 2022 in a changing of the guard for MotoGP, one powerhouse couldn’t quite match the feats of Ducati and Aprilia. Its motorsport chief tells Autosport why this is and what it is doing to become a consistent frontrunner in the class of kings
How MotoGP riders are preparing for the physical stress of sprint races
With the expansion of the calendar to 21 grands prix and the introduction of sprint races, the 2023 MotoGP season will take the riders to almost 1,300 kilometres of competition more than this year, a factor that forces adjustments in their physical preparations.
The Ducati rider who is much more than just the brother of a MotoGP legend
Surname pressure is something many have had to deal with in their motorsport careers. And while Luca Marini doesn’t have that, his familial relation and the team he rides for in MotoGP have cast a brighter spotlight on his progress. But, as he has shown in 2022 – and as he reveals to Autosport – Marini is so much more than just the brother of a legend
Ranking the top 10 riders of MotoGP 2022
The 2022 MotoGP season was another hotly contested championship, with Francesco Bagnaia emerging as the title winner after the campaign went to the wire. Autosport picks out the 10 best performers of the season
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.