Motorcycle racing champions making the transition from two wheels to four is not new. The most famous, and successful, example of which is John Surtees, who won the 500 cc World Championship four times in 12 years and Formula One (F1) once – in 1964 – with six wins, 24 podiums and 11 fastest laps.
The latest member of the motorcycle racing ranks to attempt the crossover is MotoGP world champion Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo, 29, currently riding for the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team. During testing at Silverstone circuit, Lorenzo took the wheel of a Mercedes AMG Petronas W05 Hybrid.
Previously driven by Brit Lewis Hamilton to win the 2014 F1 crown, Lorenzo – race number #99 in MotoGP – was given the chance to test the championship-winning car by mutual sponsor Monster Energy. He began testing with sessions in the simulator and a Formula Two car, before getting into the cockpit of the real thing.
“It has been a great experience, like a dream come true. The past few days for me have been very special,” said Lorenzo. “Today I experienced driving a Formula One car. I’m very satisfied with the lap time in the last run. From what the engineers were saying, my times were really competitive,” he said.
Lorenzo said the W05 Hybrid Mercedes race car was quite easy to drive, and expressed amazement at the amount of grip available in corners. “In the corners, you are in a different world, about 40 km/h faster in the middle of the corners. Also it surprised me how late you can brake and the amount of grip the car can support in full throttle in the fast corners is insane,” said the world champion.
“Between each run he’s been poring over the data, and looking to find areas for improvement. You can see why he’s a multiple world champion on two wheels,” said Richard Lane, Mercedes AMG Petronas track engineer. Lorenzo, who won the MotoGP champion titles in 2010, 2012 and 2015, is moving to Ducati Corse MotoGP team for the 2017 season.
So why hiding the lap times to public? Very political la.
fortunately, there was no rain..
They cannot reveal official lap times because it was a publicity stunt and not a shakedown..he’s contracted to Yamaha and not Mercedes… he’s one of the most meticulous riders in the history of the sport and if any of the current crop of riders were to make the jump, he would be the most ideal…
When Valentino Rossi tested for Ferrari in 2010 he was said to be “within 1.6 seconds” of the Formula One front-runners and “considerably ahead” of many other drivers. While racers at that level have superhuman reflexes and vehicle control skills, not every rider becomes a competitive driver, and the other way around. Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton have tried their hand at superbikes. Both sports call for very different skills, and at world championship level, something very few can achieve.
VR was just a little more than a half second behind Schumacher’s best time when he tested the Ferrari F1 car in 2006 on 31 January, 1&2 February at Valencia.
He is also quicker than seasoned drivers Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber, David Coulthard & Toyota F1’s Jarno Trulli. In fact, Sumacher hailed VR as having immense talent
VR is also a talented, gifted & passionate rallying driver. He competed against the legendary Colin McRae at the 2005 Monza Rally Show & won driving a Subaru Impreza WRC. Rossi also won the Monza Rally Show driving a Ford Focus RS WRC 04.
IMO, VR is the most accomplish racer on wheels still racing today & maybe the Greatest ever. With 9 championship to his credit, he will be among the greatest of all time.