Now that the dust has somewhat settled and Jorge Lorenzo has had some time to acclimatise to his new-found fame, I thought it pertinent to make some comments about the new champion, based on my own perceptions and also the comments of others on the various public forums I inhabit.
Firstly, there is no doubt that the Spaniard has been the stand-out rider of 2010. Even allowing for Rossi’s absence due to injury, it seems likely that the championship would have played out to a similar ending, though perhaps with a closer points gap.
But it has been Lorenzo’s behaviour off the bike that has attracted more comment and criticism than his flawless riding on it. Many have already remarked that they have grown bored with his contrived post-race celebrations, myself included. Where Rossi’s antics after the event were always tinged with good humour and a degree of self-deprecation (who can forget the “donkey” helmet gag?), Lorenzo’s have been opportunities where he has exhibited his massive ego and his apparent contempt for those with whom he races (witness his graceless ignoring of Ben Spies after the race last weekend – no surprise then that, during the week, the Yamaha team announced that “The Wall” will stay; I believe I predicted THAT some time ago also)
No, Lorenzo’s antics have only served to highlight what many have felt for many years – that Lorenzo is an ego-maniac of the first order.
Now don’t tell me that all the riders have huge egos – that’s how they got to where they are. I KNOW that. But there is a difference between HAVING a huge ego that drives you on to success after success and SHOWING IT OFF to everyone whether they want to see it or not.
Lorenzo is in danger of alienating the very constituency he seeks to impress by his boring and pointless post-race displays. Is it any wonder that the crowd at Sepang last weekend reserved their warmest cheers for Rossi and almost ignored Lorenzo in what should have been his moment of greatest triumph?
My suspicion is that Lorenzo is a deeply insecure person who is over-compensating for this insecurity by displays that help build up his own feeling of self-worth. In any event, I find him totally boring and colourless and I am thinking that he is so one-dimensional that, when his biography is written, he won’t be in it.
I close with a sage piece of advice that my father gave me, one which Senor Lorenzo would do well to heed. “Be nice to the people you meet on your way up – they are the same people who you’re going to meet on the way back down again.”
In other MotoGP news, Dani Pedrosa is in Phillip Island and will attempt to ride FP1 this morning. Dani has a titanium plate in his shoulder and will ride with pain-killers to assist. He is desparate to defend his second place in the championship from Rossi, who he leads by just 47 points. My tip is that he will ride come what may.
