Jorge Lorenzo Guerrero (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈxoɾxe loˈɾenθo ɣeˈreɾo]; born May 4, 1987 in Palma, Balearic Islands, Spain), is a Spanish professional motorcycle road racer. He is the 2006 and 2007 250cc World Champion, and the 2010 MotoGP World Champion. He is currently a rider in the MotoGP Class, on the Yamaha Factory Team.125s and 250s
Lorenzo made his championship debut on his fifteenth birthday, on the second qualifying day for the 2002 125cc Spanish Grand Prix, after having to miss Friday practice as he was not old enough to race. Lorenzo dominated the 2007 250cc World Championship. His nine pole positions led to nine victories in 2007, and all his 2006 poles bar Motegi led to victories in 2006.Jorge's victory at Misano in 2007 was his 16th in the 250cc class, making him the most successful Spanish rider of all time in the 250cc GP class – with one more victory than Dani Pedrosa and Sito Pons.
MotoGP
After being linked with a Yamaha MotoGP ride for 2008, on 25 July 2007 he was confirmed as Valentino Rossi's partner on a two year deal for the 2008 MotoGP season.
Lorenzo made a great start to his MotoGP career, finishing 2nd after qualifying on pole for the Qatar night race. He followed this up with pole at the second round in Jerez, Spain and 3rd Position, and pole in round 3 at Estoril, Portugal.
He converted this pole into a victory, his maiden win in the Premier
Class. In doing so, he became the youngest rider in MotoGP to finish on
the podium in his first three races, taking the record from compatriot (and bitter rival) Dani Pedrosa by a single day.
At both Donington Park and Assen,
he was observed to be riding more conservatively after a series of
injuries, but moved up the order in the later part of the race to finish
6th in each case. He has commented that he is stronger in the latter
parts of races, preferring the bike when it is low on fuel. In the next
meeting at Sachsenring, however, Lorenzo crashed out of the race during very wet conditions. Lorenzo suffered yet more injuries to his feet at the USGP at Laguna Seca
on July 20, when he experienced his seventh crash in only three months.
During the first lap a spectacular highside left Lorenzo with a sore
right foot (or ankle) and three broken bones in his left foot,
specifically the third, fourth and fifth metatarsals. At Misano, Lorenzo
clinched 2nd place. Indianapolis saw him on the podium again this time
in third position. He eventually finished the season in 4th position.2009
In 2009, Lorenzo stayed with Yamaha. His season started badly, with one win out of five races: in Japan.As a consequence of a crash in qualifying at the Laguna Seca round, Lorenzo suffered a small fracture in the head of the fourth metatarsal in his right foot, contusions to the bones in both ankles and damage to his collarbone in his right shoulder. Two crashes later in the season, during the rain hit British Grand Prix and at Brno hampered his title bid, as he was 50 points behind championship leader Valentino Rossi prompting Lorenzo to claim his chances of winning the title have gone. He won at Indianapolis, while both Rossi and Pedrosa crashed, reducing Lorenzo's gap to Rossi to 25 points. His first corner crash with Nicky Hayden in Australia was a blow to his title chances and Rossi clinched the title with a third place finish in Malaysia.
2010
On 25 August 2009, Lorenzo ended speculation surrounding a possible move to Honda or Ducati by signing a contract to race with Yamaha in the 2010 MotoGP Championship. Ducati reputedly offered him a 15 million dollar contract to take Nicky Hayden's position.
Lorenzo broke two bones in his hand in a pocket bike
crash pre-season, therefore missing most of the pre-season testing. He
fought through the field to finish second to Rossi in the season opener
in Qatar, whilst still not fully fit. After Rossi broke his leg in a crash at Mugello, Lorenzo became the title favourite, with a 47-point lead after four wins in the first six rounds. Victory at Assen made him only the seventh rider ever to win in 3 classes at this prestigious circuit.During a break between the Italian and British rounds of the championship, Lorenzo rode a Yamaha in a parade lap around the world famous Snaefell Mountain Course at the Isle of Man TT. He rode alongside former World Champion Ángel Nieto, later describing the experience as 'amazing'.
Despite nearest rival Dani Pedrosa making up ground in the latter stage of the season, Lorenzo was still in control with five races remaining. Pedrosa, the only man who could still overtake Lorenzo in the standings, then suffered a broken collarbone during practice, causing him to miss the next two races and virtually guaranteeing Lorenzo would become champion. On 10 October, Lorenzo clinched the title with a third place finish at the Malaysian Grand Prix behind Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso.
Celebrations
Lorenzo has become known for his celebration antics, which have become more frequent over the 2010 season. These have included Lorenzo imitating a spaceman, and Nintendo's mario brothers making an appearance at the trackside.Other
In January 2010, Lorenzo got involved with the Oxfam international confederation's efforts in assisting support for the victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.The character Jorge in the video game Halo: Reach is named for him, after Lorenzo wore a helmet at the 2009 Valencian Grand Prix that replicated a style of helmet from Halo 3.
Finger Injury
At the Philip Island, Australian round of MotoGP in 2011 Lorenzo lost the end of his finger in a morning warm-up crash. His absence from the race helped Casey Stoner to wrap up the 2011 world title in front of his home fans. Lorenzo underwent successful surgery in Melbourne to repair damage to his finger, with the surgeon able to save the nerves and tendons of the injured fourth finger (left hand). Surgery was deemed a success and as a result no functionality was lost in either the finger or the hand.Rivalry
During his reign as 250cc champion, Lorenzo was known to be very aggressive in his riding, particlularly when overtaking others. He was penalised by suspending him from taking part in Malaysia in 2005. Lorenzo's tenure in the Fiat Yamaha team has been underscored by an intense rivalry between himself and his team mate Valentino Rossi. This rivalry resulted in the Fiat Yamaha team being divided. In an interview after signing with Ducati, Rossi said that "the wall" between him and Lorenzo never existed when the team was around, as his skills and set-up details were passed on to Lorenzo. Lorenzo has stated in many interviews that he does not quite know how the bike works, and he is working towards enhancing his knowledge in order to boost his analytical skills.In 2011, Lorenzo was seen arguing with fellow rider Marco Simoncelli, who was under fire from Lorenzo for his dangerous riding. Simoncelli retorted by reminding Lorenzo of his race suspension after he was overly aggressive while overtaking a rider in 2005, which included clashing of fairings. Lorenzo said, "if it doesn't come from you again there will be no problem". Simoncelli put even more fuel to the fire by saying "I will be arrested", to which a visibly angry Lorenzo reacted by saying, "this is no joke, we are playing with our lives here". Simoncelli claimed that he still has his leathers which were left blackened at the knee slider after a previous incident with Lorenzo at the final round of the 2010 season. At the Malaysian Grand Prix, a race Lorenzo missed due to injury, Simoncelli was killed in a second lap crash.
0 komentar:
Post a Comment