Lorenzo quashes latest retirement rumours

Jorge Lorenzo was left incredulous by the latest round of rumours on his future, claiming they are “completely false” and this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island “is just a normal race.”

Through an apparent misunderstanding, paddock rumours indicated Lorenzo was due to announce his retirement from MotoGP on Thursday. But the Majorcan denied this emphatically, stating the situation was as it was prior to arriving in Australia.

“I was surprised when I entered here and some of you were making pictures,” he said. “[It] Very strange. I was really surprised about your comment of this rumour.

“I don't know. Today you can take rumours from everywhere, from chats, for WhatsApp, from forums, from Internet, from some talk in the paddock. So it's a matter of your opinion to take it as true or not.

“But as you can see, and what I'm saying is that it's completely false, and this race is just a normal race that I have to try to improve my performance and my riding on the track.”

Lorenzo’s results since he returned from injury at Silverstone have not made for pleasant reading. His 14^th place in England was followed by a 14^th, a 20^th an 18^th and a 17^th.

With rain and heavy winds forecast over the weekend at Phillip Island, Lorenzo acknowledged the Australian venue hasn’t always been a happy hunting ground in such conditions in recent years.

But the 32-year old pointed to his record here from his 250cc days, when he triumphed in two races and counted Phillip Island among his favourite tracks, as reason to remain optimistic.

“Theoretically, this is one of the tracks where I have struggled more in the past three years, last year, I couldn't race here, but the previous ones with Yamaha and the first with Ducati, I struggled to get good results,” he said.

“They changed the tyres, so I struggled more to be competitive. With the Ducati, it was a difficult race for all the Ducati riders. But in the past, a long time ago, this was actually one of my favorite tracks, in 250 and the first years of MotoGP.

“So why can't I recover this feeling a little bit? You never know. So I am very curious to jump on this bike with these tyres and see what I can do.”