MotoGP 2019: Lorenzo to Ride For Repsol Honda Team in Two-Year Deal
Just days after former MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo won secured his first Ducati win in MotoGP, and a day after Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) announced that 2018 would be the last year for Dani Pedrosa on an HRC-prepped Honda, HRC has announced that Lorenzo will be riding for Repsol Honda Team in 2019 and 2020.Jorge Lorenzo To Repsol Honda TeamThe HRC press release reads: “Honda Racing Corporation is pleased to announce the signing of three-times MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo. The Spanish rider will join the Repsol Honda Team for the next two years.
“From 2019, Lorenzo will become teammate to four-times MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez: two great champions with great talent and high hopes that will make a stronger team and contribute to the development of HRC.”Lorenzo has had one of the most impressive careers in MotoGP history, with three MotoGP World Championships (2010, 2012, and 2015) on Yamaha YZR-M1 machinery.To date in his premier-class MotoGP career, Lorenzo has 45 wins and 111 podiums in 177 starts. Lorenzo also has two World Championships in the former 250cc class, scoring back-to-back crowns in 2006 and 2007 for Aprilia.Lorenzo has ridden for Honda in the past. In 2005 he rode for Honda in the 250cc class. Lorenzo finished in fifth place that season, his maiden year in the 250cc class, with six podiums, but no wins.In two years with the Ducati Team, Lorenzo has struggled. Although he won in Mugello on Sunday, in 24 starts on the Ducati, he scored just 178 points and found himself on the podium just four times.Lorenzo finished seventh in the 2017 MotoGP World Championship Series, his lowest placing in GP racing since he was 12th at the end of the year in the 125cc class in 2003. Lorenzo’s worst year on a Yamaha was a fourth place at the end of the 2008 campaign.Replacing Jorge Lorenzo on the factory Ducati is Danilo Petrucci. The Italian has been strong on the Independent Team Pramac Racing Ducati, finishing a best of second at Le Mans this year.
KTM RC 390 and Gordon McCall of Quail Motorcycle Gathering
byMotos and Friends by Ultimate Motorcycle
Hello and welcome once again to Ultimate Motorcycling’s weekly Podcast—Motos and Friends.
This week’s Podcast is brought to you by Yamaha motorcycles. Discover how the YZF-R7 provides the perfect balance of rider comfort and true supersport performance by checking it out at YamahaMotorsports.com, or see it for yourself at your local dealer.
This week features Senior Editor Nic de Sena’s impressions of the new KTM RC 390. The entry-level KTM has always been an impressive motorcycle that has sold extremely well, however the factory has now taken the bike to another level, with top-spec features that are typically found on flagship machines. Clearly KTM has realized that even smaller engined machines should have high spec suspension, brakes and electronics packages. Nic tells us how well the new RC 390 is equipped, and what he thought of riding the smaller displacement rocket.
In the second segment I chat with automotive and motorcycle industry icon, Gordon McCall. Gordon is the Director of Motorsports at the Quail Lodge & Golf Club in Carmel Valley, California.
This weekend of Saturday May 14th sees the annual Quail Motorcycle Gathering re-start after its Covid-forced hiatus, and having attended every one of the previous Motorcycle Gatherings, personally I’m very happy that the event is back on the schedule. Gordon chats about the event and a little of what’s happening this year. It’s a great event and if you feel like a trip to the gorgeous Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley, you’ll get to meet Gordon, Roland Sands, and of course a large number of stunning motorcycles too.
From all of us at Ultimate Motorcycling, we hope you enjoy this episode!
