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Officially official: Lorenzo moves to Ducati!

After weeks of speculation, it is officially official, reigning MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo will leave the Yamaha MotoGP team at the end of this season. The destination for Lorenzo is the Ducati factory team.

The following is an excerpt from Yamaha’s statement:

“Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. announces that its partnership with Jorge Lorenzo will be discontinued at the close of the 2016 MotoGP season, when Lorenzo will move on to new racing challenges,” read a Yamaha statement.

“Since Lorenzo joined the Yamaha Factory Racing Team in 2008, Lorenzo and Yamaha won three MotoGP World Championships (2010, 2012 and 2015), clinched 41 race wins and have been on the podium 99 times out of 141 races contested.

“Yamaha is extremely grateful for Jorge’s contributions to its racing successes and looks forward to sharing more memorable moments during the remaining 15 MotoGP rounds of 2016, their ninth season together.

“Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. wishes Lorenzo the very best in his future racing endeavours and reconfirms the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team’s full support on his campaign to achieve his fourth MotoGP title.

Ducati issued the following statement:

“Ducati announces that it has reached an agreement with Jorge Lorenzo thanks to which the Spanish rider will take part in the MotoGP World Championship in 2017 and 2018 aboard the Ducati Desmosedici GP of the Ducati Team.

“Lorenzo, born in Palma de Mallorca on 4 May 1987, has won five world championship titles throughout his racing career (250cc in 2006 and 2007 and MotoGP in 2010, 2012 and 2015).”

Why suddenly?

Ducati fishing for Lorenzo to don the colour red is nothing new, in fact the Italian team has been at it since 2009 but were turned down multiple times.

Now seems to be the right time for the greatest Spanish racer of all time to make his move.

Many feel that Lorenzo has achieved his best onboard the Yamaha M1, and that Lorenzo is not being perceived with the greatness he deserves.

The Ducati however seems to be primed to win, with both Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone having claimed podium finishes and pole positions, despite lacking the ‘racing sparkle’ that separates the Greats from the podium finishers.

Apparently Lorenzo also feels slighted that Rossi’s contract extension was announced first, instead of the reigning World Champion’s. This is being perceived as Yamaha placing more importance on The Doctor than on Lorenzo. The fact that Yamaha just announced a partnership with Rossi’s VR46 Riders Academy may also have a part to play in Lorenzo’s departure.

The musical chairs begin

What that means is that someone will have to take over his seat at Yamaha, and one of the Andreas at Ducati will have to vacate their seat.

Andrea Iannone won no favours when he took out both himself and Dovizioso just metres away from a podium finish for both riders in Argentina. And Dovi is also being perceived as the more cool headed one among the two Italians, so it is Dovi that is tipped to stay at Ducati.

Yamaha on the other hand has made no announcement or hinted at the rider to take over from Lorenzo, but it is the upcoming star at Suzuki, Maverick Vinales that is being tipped as the favourite to ride for Yamaha.

Can Lorenzo do what Rossi couldn’t?

There is no doubt that Lorenzo is one of the all-time greats, in his prime even Rossi was tested at almost every race. Lets not forget that this is the same guy who claimed a podium and second place finish on his debut race in 2008, and in 2010 won six races and never finished a race lower than second. He claimed the title with 383 points, a feat yet to be emulated.

Rossi on the other hand has a galaxy of achievements to his credit as well, but he couldn’t tame the Ducati before returning to Yamaha. If Lorenzo manages to win a race and more at Ducati, he could just clinch the coveted “Mr Popular” title that Rossi has had tor decades.

With the new Ducati Desmo race machine already showing signs of greatness, it seems likely that Lorenzo could just do what even the great Rossi couldn’t – tame a wild Ducati MotoGP race machine.

It is unlikely that Lorenzo will speak openly about Ducati until the end of the season, but if there is one thing for sure, the 2017 MotoGP season is going to be awesome!

Image Credits: MotoGP

Triumph Thruxton R – The Gentlemen Racer is Now in Malaysia – RM91,900

Hailed as the coolest motorcycle in the world, the Triumph Bonneville range in Malaysia has been refreshed to include the cool as ice, tough as nails, makes you want to ride hard and beat someone up, the top of the range Thruxton R.

Also introduced with the R are the Bonneville T120 and T120 Black, but just in case you were wondering which one we approve of, now you know.

We first got acquainted with the Thruxton R at the EICMA Motorcycle show in Milan, Italy last year, you can read the story here. The bike is a success at first sight, there is something weirdly appealing about a bike with a minimalistic design, huge power and lots of exposed steel.

Triumph-1 — The Thruxton R features classic cafe racer design, a big powerful engine, brilliant brakes, and Ohlins and Showa suspension.

The Thruxton R has been well received globally with positive reviews from the world’s motorcycling media. We will leave our opinion till we ride it locally, so the facts first.

The round headlights of the Thruxton R are an obvious nod to bikes of the early 90s.

An extension of the Triumph Bonneville range, the Thruxton R is a true to form cafe racer, a reincarnation of sorts of a successful motorcycle from the 50s and 60s that won a lot of local races in the UK. Though the new Thruxton R lacks that racing pedigree of its four fathers, it has the looks, and the power to match.

A big powerful engine now made more economical with liquid-cooling and selectable riding modes.

Powered by a 1200cc, 8-valve, parallel twin engine, the new liquid-cooled, ‘low-inertia-high performance’ engine puts out 97hp at 6,750rpm – 62% more than the previous Thruxton – and 152Nm of torque at just 4,950rpm – a stonking 62% more power than before.

Being a modern Triumph, it naturally comes with impressive levels of craftsmanship, with just the right amount of modern technology delivered in true-to-form simplicity.

Triumph-11 — Big Brembo brakes have received rave reviews from the world’s motorcycling media.

On the safety front, it comes with an ABS braking system, a ride-by-wire throttle system that also gives you three selectable riding modes – road, rain and sport. It also has traction control and a torque assist clutch, as well as a LED rear light, Daytime Running Lights (DRL) up front, an engine immobiliser and for the sake of convenience, a USB charging socket.

The incredible attention to detail and great build quality is typical of modern Triumphs.

The Thruxton R is offered here at RM91,900 without insurance and on-the-road costs.

And for those of us who prefer a bit more subtleness in the performance area but don’t want to miss out on the cool package – the Bonneville T120 and T120 Black are just the answer.

The T120 and the Black edition are a true throw back to the original Bonni from 1959.

Both the T120 and T120 Black are powered by the same 1200cc liquid cooled engine.

As with the Thruxton R, both offer the highest quality materials and finishing, gorgeous design lines and a big engine that does not pale too much in comparison with the top of the line Thruxton R.

Highlights for the Bonneville T120 and T120 Black are the LED rear lights.

The T120 and the Black edition make an equal 80hp at 6,550rpm – up 18% from the previous model, and 105Nm of torque – an amazing 54% increase in power. Power delivery is said to be linear with a six-speed gearbox providing crisp gear shifts.

Just like the Thruxton R, the detailing on both the Bonneville's is impeccable. — Just like the Thruxton R, the detailing on both the Bonneville’s is impeccable.

With its timeless design the only thing connecting both Bonni’s to the past, the T120 and the Black edition offer such pleasantries as ABS braking, ride-by-wire with 2 riding modes, torque-assist clutch, LED DRL headlights, LED rear light, a USB charging socket, among others.

The Black edition offers that and a dark brown seat, all-black detailing with black rims, basically black everything.

The only thing differentiating the T120 and the T120 Black are the all-black details and this brown seat.

Pricing for both the bonneville T120 and Bonneville T120 Black is at RM79,900 without insurance and on-the-road costs.

All three Triumph’s are available for viewing and booking at the flagship Triumph store in Petaling Jaya or you can visit the official Triumph Malaysia website by clicking here.

Triumph Bonneville T120 and T120 Black Image Gallery