Get unlimited access
You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month.
Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi reckons Jorge Lorenzo will “lose out” when he joins rival MotoGP manufacturer Honda next year.
After a disappointing first season at Ducati last year and a similarly slow start to the 2018 campaign, the Italian manufacturer’s bosses lost patience with Lorenzo before Honda swept in to sign the Spaniard and pair him with Marc Marquez for ’19.
Since then, Lorenzo has won three races, including last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, and has become the top Ducati rider in the standings behind Marquez and Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi.
Tardozzi now feels both sides made mistakes during their contract negotiations and believes that Lorenzo will struggle at Honda because Ducati was a team that gave him “what he wants”.
“Marc certainly thinks he’s gaining from this – whether or not he is right, I don’t know,” Tardozzi told Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“What I can say however is that Jorge will lose out for sure, because here he has found a family that follows him and a team that gives him what he wants.
“In Honda he will have to start all over again and adapt more quickly than he did with Ducati.
“We’ve all made mistakes and we’ll all lose out. Who gains something is Honda. For sure we will be keeping things in mind for the future, we are not stupid.”
Tardozzi also told Spanish radio station Cadena SER that it is a “great disappointment” to see Lorenzo hit such form knowing he will join Honda next year.
“Jorge has done an incredible race [in Austria], I think he now knows the Ducati,” he said.
“He listens to the engineers and can now ride it as he wants, braking very late.
“I am convinced he will continue at this level in the next races. It will be a great disappointment to say goodbye to Lorenzo after these successes.
“We have given Honda a great rider, but he will remain a friend forever.”
It was confirmed in Austria that Lorenzo will be allowed to test with Honda in the post-season Valencia and Jerez tests in November, as reported by Autosport.
“It’s good news for my interests, of course, and it shows how fair [Ducati] are,” said Lorenzo, who was barred from testing for Ducati by previous employer Yamaha at the end of 2016.
“I am very happy.”