Phillip Island has always been an iconic circuit in the MotoGP world championship. Speaking on “The Wild Project” Podcast, Jorge Lorenzo talked about how he started to become aware of the danger involved in being a MotoGP rider and all the risks involved, especially at the Australian circuit.
Lorenzo spoke about an episode at the Phillip Island circuit, which was quite funny: ‘Once in Australia, at Philip Island, which is one of the fastest and most dangerous circuits in the Championship, my bike broke down and the mechanics had four or five hours to repair it. But as I had nothing to do, I ate some pasta and went to the wall of the last corner, to see Pedrosa, Rossi, Stoner… I was very close to the wall, the bikes were passing about 10 meters away. I saw Pedrosa and Rossi and said: “I’m going like this, like this? I thought: ‘If something goes wrong, if we go over a small stone and the bike loses control, and we fall? kaput’.
The former Spanish rider also spoke about the feeling of being on a MotoGP bike and when he realized the danger he was in during every GP.
– That moment was like a bucket of cold water thrown at us. You think about winning and going as fast as you can to the next corner. Then you’re so protected – with the helmet, the suit, the gloves and the boots – that you get a warm feeling that makes you realize that you’re capable of anything when you’re on the bike and you’re not aware of the risk. It’s only when something bad happens to you, like in this case a crushed finger or two vertebrae, that you say ‘fuck, I could kill myself here at any moment.