Marquez responds to Lorenzo: “Sometimes it’s not enough to be the best”

Three-time champion Lorenzo has made it clear that he rates compatriot Marquez as the top rider in today’s MotoGP, and believes he would have won a title in the past three years if not for injuries.

“With Jorge there was a lot of respect, I learned a lot from him,” Marquez responded to DAZN. 

“For me he was a point of reference like Dani Pedrosa or Valentino Rossi. 

“I was able to compete against them and I managed to win against them, but above all to learn, which is the most important thing. 

“Sometimes it is not enough to be the best, but you have to be the most complete, the smartest, the fastest.

“And may the team and the bike accompany you in the fight for the world championship."

Lorenzo has also issued a stern warning that Marquez must “choose between winning the title or making money” - suggesting that Repsol Honda, who reward him with a lucrative contract, can no longer provide him with the machinery to win the championship.

Marquez has already complained about his 2023 prototype bike but has also defended team boss Alberto Puig, as Honda put on a united front after their awful year.

Marquez’s hopes of matching Rossi’s seven premier class titles this year will depend on his own physical state, and the performance of his bike, neither of which held up to scrutiny in 2022.

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