Lorenzo considered quiting after injuries
Added on Saturday, December 26th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments
Lorenzo considered quiting after injuries
Jorge Lorenzo has revealed that he considered retiring from MotoGP after a series of serious crashes in 2008.
The 23-year-old suffered a number of crashes in his rookie season, most notably a spectacular high-side during practice in Shanghai. He went on to race that weekend to a fourth place finish and made it to the podium in Le Mans on crutches before another crash at Mugello in the following round. Yet another crash during practise in Barcelona forced him to sit out his “home” Grand Prix, effectively ending any title hopes that he may have had.
The second half of the season also saw retirements at Sachsenring and Laguna Seca for Lorenzo and the Yamaha rider has claimed that the crash at Barcelona did make him think seriously about his career.
“I had thought it was over for me,” he told Motosprint.
“After the fourth bad crash, which occurred during practice at Barcelona, I almost broke my head. I took a heavy blow on the side, and for about two days I couldn’t even remember who I was. I’m serious, I couldn’t remember my name, nor what I was doing. It was a really heavy blow.
“When I realised again who I was and what was happening, I decided to quit racing.
“No, I said more than that. I said: ‘if I carry on doing this, I’ll end up killing myself sooner or later.’”
Lorenzo admitted that it was the first time in his career that he had been afraid.
“This is a sport where something really bad may happen, so you tend not to think about it,” he said. “Clearly, when you do think about it, as a rider you’re finished. Indeed, for at least a couple of days, I had considered myself finished.”
He said it took some several races to restore his confidence from that low point, and that his opening lap crash at Laguna Seca a few months later set him back again.
“When I felt myself again and got back on the bike, this thought [of retirement] suddenly disappeared,” Lorenzo explained. “Thankfully the human mind changes very rapidly sometimes. For sure, however, I promised myself I would change my approach to races.
“I remember that at Donington I was among the slowest in practice, but in the race I slowly started to make up ground and in the end I finished sixth. Then at Assen I was sixth again, while at Sachsenring I crashed but the track was wet because of the rain so that’s acceptable.
“However, at Laguna Seca I ended up doing another highside: I was regaining confidence but lost it all again all of a sudden. So I had to start over once again.
“But I matured that season, I acquired the knowledge for the reasons why you go quick. And most of all, I also understood when it’s better to slow down.”
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