More than compatriots, Jorge Martín and Jorge Lorenzo became friends over the years. The youngest of the Spaniards was closely followed by the three-time MotoGP champion in the development phase of his career, also learning from his father, Chicho Lorenzo.
In a documentary released by DAZN this week, the 2023 world championship runner-up recalled that period of his career: ‘Jorge [Lorenzo] is a special person, but when I started working with Albert [Valera, manager], he was Albert’s rider and was at his peak. I remember it was in 2015 when we started working together, I was very stubborn, I remember the first time I trained with him, when I went to his house in Switzerland for five or six days, also with Chicho. We started doing exercises, I saw that he was amazing because it was something he had been doing his whole life, I get very frustrated when something doesn’t come quickly.’
About Chicho Lorenzo, Martín realized that he had a demanding character: ‘Chicho is a very strict person, it’s very difficult for him to say something good, he will say everything bad. Even though he thinks, if he says “this is good”, you are the “host”. But at that time Chicho and I clashed a lot. […] . Then I started working with Chicho for two years, I improved my style a lot and the results improved a lot‘.
For “Martinator”, Lorenzo was a mentor and reference: ‘Jorge was also always a reference, like an older brother in racing. I would go to his motorhome, we would stretch together, it was a beautiful time. Everything that is inside me, I already started supporting Jorge until death‘.
