Jorge Lorenzo warning: “Marc Marquez’s worst nightmare, a psychological test”
Marquez withdrew from the German MotoGP after a fifth fall of the weekend in the warm-up, breaking a finger and shining a light on the extent of his struggles with his Honda.
The Repsol Honda rider has not completed a grand prix this season yet, has missed three rounds due to a previous injury, and is set to feature at next weekend’s Dutch MotoGP under a dark cloud.
"The Honda has really become a bike, it was already critical a couple of years ago, but it has become a more critical bike,” Marquez’s ex-teammate and three-time MotoGP champion Lorenzo told DAZN.
“A bike that throws the riders basically or makes it so that the riders can't save most of the falls.
"I think that not even Marc in his worst nightmares imagined a weekend like this, with five crashes, so many bad feelings.
“You have to remember that in bad years, when Marc came to a circuit like Austin or Sachsenring he always gave something more and got victories.
“But this year, from the beginning, he had tremendous difficulties. Some tremendous scares.
“And on top of that, it has gotten worse over the weekend. It has gotten worse and worse.
“And it really has been one of the worst weekends that Marc has ever had. And it's a weekend that hurts a lot.
“He's sad, he looks sad. You can see him answering the questions without really wanting to answer.
“And really psychologically it will be a litmus test for Marc.
“I think it is a moment that Marc has never experienced. He has experienced delicate moments in the last two or three years with the issue of the arm on a physical level.
“But now it comes together that he is experiencing many falls and physical consequences.
"In general, he is physically fine. He has returned to good health, but he finds himself with the most delicate Honda in recent times and further away from the rivals.
“I think that things from Germany to the Netherlands will not change much physically, it will surely improve a bit because the body will reduce inflammation from the various blows it has accumulated this weekend.
"But he won't get much better at Assen. But he's going to have a few days to reflect, think...
“And get to a new circuit that might make him feel better.
"Because in the end a lot of bad feelings have been accumulating in three days. And that together has caused him to say that it's not worth it.”
Lorenzo himself became well-known for riding with injuries, notably in Le Mans in 2008 when he arrived with two broken ankles.
“In motorcycling, sometimes you get on and do heroics. I arrived at Le Mans and I finished second, I couldn't walk. I was on crutches.
"Then in Mugello I fell again and in Montmeló on Friday also doing a lot of flips and blows to the head. In fact, I didn't remember anything.
“And then the fact of retiring comes to mind a lot, you think it's not worth continuing in this sport.
“But then when you let the days go by, you cool down a bit, you see things in a different perspective.
"You see it with more optimism.”
Lorenzo returned from his own tumultuous period at the 2008 British MotoGP but remembers being cautious.
"I went with a lot of concern. I got a little afraid of the bike.
“But little by little I was building confidence with the bike that I had lost.
"I don't know if Marc is in the same situation, in the same situation of saying: 'Be careful, if I continue at this rate of hard falls I can really hurt myself again'.”
