Jorge Lorenzo is a professional Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle racer who rose to prominence after winning five world titles at a young age. He has been racing professionally since he was a teenager, winning the 250cc World Championships in 2006 and 2007. He then joined the Yamaha team and began participating in the MotoGP class, where he has won three titles and finished third three times. He just parted ways with Yamaha and will compete in the current MotoGP season on a Ducati motorcycle. He was the first Spanish racer to win several championships in the premier class. He has won 65 races in his career, putting him fifth all-time in Grand Prix motorcycle racing. He backed the Oxfam international confederation’s effort to help Haiti earthquake victims in 2010. For the majority of his early career, he wore Dainese-sponsored protective gear, after which he began to represent another brand, Alpinestars. He promoted the Chinese company Zopo Mobile’s smartphone racing game, ‘Zopo Speed 7 GP.’
Childhood and Adolescence
Jorge Lorenzo Guerrero was born in Palma, on the Balearic island of Mallorca, Spain, on May 4, 1987. At the age of three, he rode his first motorcycle, which his father had created by combining pieces from several motorcycles.
He began racing in minicross events after that, and at the age of eight, he won his first race in Mallorca, earning the 1995 Balearic crown against older competitors.
He went on to win the minicross, trial, minimoto, and junior motocross championships on the island. In 1997, he began competing in national events, and in 1998, he won the Aprilia 50cc Cup.
Career of Jorge
Jorge Lorenzo made his 125cc Grand Prix debut on the second qualifying day of the 2002 Spanish Grand Prix, which also happened to be his 15th birthday, enabling him eligible to compete. In the twelfth round of the 125cc championship in Rio de Janeiro in 2003, he won for the first time and ended 12th overall.
He rode with Aprilia in the 2006 250cc World Championship and earned his first title with eight victories. He defended his title the following year with nine victories from nine pole positions, surpassing Dani Pedrosa and Sito Pons to become the most successful Spanish intermediate rider of all time.
In 2007, he signed a two-year deal with Yamaha and became Valentino Rossi’s teammate for the 2008 MotoGP season. He finished second in his first Premier Class event and won his first race in the third round in Estoril, Portugal, making him the youngest MotoGP rider to finish the first three races on the podium.
During the remainder of the 2008 season, he suffered a variety of injuries that caused him to miss one race, but he still managed to finish on the podium on several occasions. By the end of the season, he had finished fourth behind his teammate Rossi, who had won.
In the 2009 season, he continued to ride for Yamaha, where he had a close duel with teammate Valentino Rossi, who eventually exceeded his four victories with two more to take first place. Jorge Lorenzo led the points table until the fifth round, when, due to a series of crashes and injuries, Rossi took a significant lead, which he was unable to close despite two victories in the later rounds.
He turned down a $15 million offer from Ducati in favor of riding for Yamaha in the 2010 MotoGP Championship, where he won the title for the first time. He finished on the podium in the majority of the races to maintain a comfortable lead in the standings, a position he maintained after his closest challenger missed two races due to injury.
He had a promising start to the 2011 MotoGP Championship, with four podium finishes in five races, but a crash in the next round caused him to withdraw from the competition. He was able to keep up with leader Casey Stoner, but had to settle for second place after his season was cut short due to a crash in which he lost one of his fingers.
Following his comeback to the track the following season, he went on to win the 2012 MotoGP Championship, keeping a commanding lead throughout the tournament with 1st and 2nd place finishes. He signed a new two-year deal with Yamaha during the season, extending his contract with the manufacturer through 2014.
In the 2013 MotoGP Championship, he faced stiff competition from Honda riders Marc Márquez and Dani Pedrosa. He got out to a good start, but he soon fell behind Márquez, who beat him by only 4 points at the end of the season, despite his triumphs in the final three rounds.
He began the 2014 championship with an accident in the first round, which hindered his progress in subsequent rounds. He started the second half of the season 128 points behind the leader, Marc Márquez, but was able to close the distance slightly with two wins and four second-place finishes, finishing third in the title.
During the first several races of the 2015 MotoGP Championship, he was pitted against teammate Valentino Rossi, who held the lead despite Lorenzo’s career-best four back-to-back victories. Rossi attempted frantically to preserve a significant lead over him, but Lorenzo got the upper hand after Rossi had a collision with Marc Márquez in the penultimate round. He overcame Rossi by 5 points and won the championship after winning the final race.
After a collision and two second-place finishes, he started the 2016 season with a win and went on to win two more races. He trailed behind Marc Márquez and his teammate Rossi after that, but he was able to win again in the final round and finish third. This was his penultimate victory with Yamaha before joining Ducati for the 2017 season, where he has yet to win a race and is presently ranked seventh.
Achievements of Jorge
Jorge Lorenzo, riding for Yamaha, has won the MotoGP World Championship three times, in 2010, 2012, and 2015. He also won the World Championships in the 250cc class in 2006 and 2007.
Estimated Net Worth
Jorge Lorenzo is a Spanish professional motorcycle road racer who has a net worth of $20 million. Jorge Lorenzo was born in Palma, Spain in May 1987. He won the 250cc World Championship in 2006 and 2007 and the MotoGP World Championship in 2010, 2012, and 2015. Lorenzo competes for the Yamaha team and has also finished as runner-up three times in the premier class.
Trivia
Following his first premier class home race in 2008, Spanish journalist Ernest Riveras released ‘Jorge Lorenzo: por fuera desde dentro,’ a book that served as his official biography and chronicled his ascent to popularity. He was in attendance at the book’s debut in Madrid and promoted it on national television.
Author Ernest Riveras Tobia published another book about him in 2009, titled ‘Jorge Lorenzo: My Story So Far.’ In 2011, he and writer Matt Roberts co-authored the book “Jorge Lorenzo: The New King of MotoGP.”
After wearing a helmet inspired by the ‘Halo 3: ODST’ game at the 2009 Valencian Grand Prix, a character in the video game ‘Halo: Reach’ was named after Jorge Lorenzo. Following that, he wore ‘Call of Duty’ franchise-sponsored helmets. He was well-known at Yamaha for his rivalry with teammate Rossi. He is currently involved in a spat with Marco Simoncelli.