Former rider Álex Debón, who raced in 250cc (1998-2009) and Moto2 (2010), had been employed by Jorge Lorenzo as his coach. But the partnership lasted shorter than three months, including just some testing and Qatar race, then the trouble experienced by Lorenzo on the Italian machine made his relationship with Debon worsen, till they parted ways without much official explanation. But later, this event turned out to be premonitory for something big: the divorce between Lorenzo and Ducati and his switch to HRC Honda.
NEW CHALLENGE – For the first time after the split with Jorge, Alex Debon talked about him to Radio Marca. In his opinion, Ducati should have put more trust in Lorenzo (with whom he may collaborate again in 2019) and Jorge’s agreement with Honda is the best thing that could happen. “It was a shock for me and for everyone else and a great news for Spanish sponsors…I think that Alberto Puig and HRC’s bet is surprising and very positive, since they will line up two very fast riders. Jorge will get used to Honda very quickly. They’re two cooks in the same kitchen, but the difference between this situation and when Jorge was Rossi’s team-mate is that Valentino is Italian, while he and Marc are both Spanish. Furthermore, they share a Spanish sponsor and they both want to win races and titles. Despite what happened on the track, the relationship between them is very good. It’s clear that Marc will give his best to beat Jorge, but Jorge will do the same with him.“
DUCATI’S MISTAKE – It will be a stimulating challenge for Lorenzo, maybe the most difficult one of his career, since there’s no room neither for mistakes, nor for excuses. After acclaiming Jorge-Honda agreement, Alex Debon criticised how Ducati behaved with the rider from Mallorca: “In the pits there were some people, with names and surnames, who didn’t like my presence and the fact I defended Jorge. The separation between me and Jorge was caused by them. After seeing how the situation had become, Jorge told me, after Qatar GP, that I should stay at home“. However, Debon contributed to Jorge’s triumph at Mugello: “What we did last winter wasn’t easy and this victory is the result of a very hard work we did before. An effort made not just by me, but also by the whole team“. In conclusion, one more zinger for Ducati: “From the beginning, they never understood neither Jorge as a person and as a rider, nor his potential.”