Michael Scott - MotoGP

Michael Scott - a regular in the MotoGP paddock since 1984 and familiar to motorcycle racing fans worldwide through his best selling books on the likes of Wayne Rainey and Barry Sheene has been covering MotoGP since long before it was MotoGP. Remember two-strokes? Scott does.

I was struck again in a close dinner-table encounter at Le Mans just how small and delicately built is Jorge Lorenzo. On screen in leathers, you’d have no idea. Especially if he’s crashed and is all puffed up in his airbags.

Have another look at Marquez. At 169 cm. another titch. He only looked big when stood next to Dani Pedrosa. In fact aside from three 181cm giants – Rossi, Petrucci and rookie Mir – it is clear that small is better. The smallest being Dovizioso, at 167 cm. Who’d have thought? It’s easy to forget that MotoGP’s superheroes are just ordinary blokes. But with unusual (indeed exceptional) talents, and perhaps even more importantly obsessional drive.

Lorenzo’s drive is particularly obsessive. Ever since his freshfaced start, back in 2002, when he had to wait until the second day of practice before he was old enough. With Jorge, there’s always been a special intensity, in word and deed. This is obvious not just from the way he keeps changing his support staff (nobody lasts long in the Lorenzo camp), but also changing teams. In MotoGP, he could have stuck with Yamaha and added to his three titles with them. His style suited the bike, and they suited him. But that would have meant staying with team-mate-from-hell Rossi, who has no pity on anyone so fast, and who did everything to make Jorge’s life uncomfortable.