Jorge Lorenzo quizzed about following Dani Pedrosa into MotoGP wildcard races

Jorge Lorenzo has been asked about returning to MotoGP with wildcard races, as Dani Pedrosa has done.

Pedrosa, now a KTM test rider, received plaudits from onlookers and fellow riders with his wildcard appearances last season.

Now 38 and six years on from his full-time racing retirement, Pedrosa will race as a wildcard for KTM in Jerez this year.

Could his fierce rival Lorenzo imagine doing the same?

“Motorcycles and racing have been part of my life for 30 years,” he told Mundo Deportivo.

“They are still part of my life, but in a different way.

“I have competed for 18 years as a professional.

“The adrenaline and happiness that winning races and being a MotoGP champion generates is very difficult to achieve in other areas of life.

“But, to achieve victories and championships, one has to sacrifice many things in one's life and has to lose others that are also very interesting.

“It is very difficult to repeat those peaks of happiness.

“But now, taking an average of my days, I consider myself happier than before.”

He shut down the idea of following in Pedrosa’s footsteps.

“Not at all, that chapter of my life is completely closed,” Lorenzo said.

“If I haven't returned when I'm 33 or 34 years old, I'm not going to do it now.

“Nor to be a test rider.

“Cars give me adrenaline and competition and without so much risk, I don't think I'll work as a motorcycle racer again.”

Lorenzo retired five years ago from a career which yielded two MotoGP titles, and is now 36.

He remains racing - but now on four wheels.

“I will continue competing,” he said.

“I will do it with Aston Martin, in the Italian GT. This year there will only be four races.”

Lorenzo also works as a broadcaster on MotoGP for Spanish television.

He described it: “Very relaxed, it's not the pressure of racing when you're a rider.

“When you are a rider, you not only have pressure from your team and sponsors, but you are risking your life every time you put on your helmet.

“Talking about motorcycles is much easier given the difficulty of the job, because it also has its own thing.

“I have a great time talking about what I like most, contributing my experience to the viewer.”