Today I woke up to the news that Jorge Lorenzo is retiring from professional sport. MotoGP, that is.

No wonder, given his recent poor run of form and loss of motivation. I mean who wouldn’t lose their motivation after a series of massive crashes and the prospect of spending the rest of their life as a drooling vegetable. At 32, with 3 world titles in the bag – it’s a no-brainer.

It’s time to stop and do a stoner. Casey (not “a person who regularly takes drugs, especially cannabis”).

Jorge’s been a magnificent rider and an excellent showman: the famous flag quirk, his battles with Vale as a team-mate. Few people can afford to say that. It’s a real luxury to go against the best and beat them in the end.

JL feels different from the millennial generation (well, borderline milliennial in his case), it always felt good to know he wouldn’t stream his colonoscopy live and take on Q&A while doing it…

“I crashed [again] in this ugly Assen crash, and you all know the consequences,” Lorenzo said. “I have to admit, when I was rolling on the gravel and when I stood up, I thought to myself, ‘ok Jorge, is this really worth it, after what I’ve achieved, to keep suffering?’ I’m done with it, I don’t want to race any more.

“I came home, I decided to give it a try, so I kept going but the truth is, the hill became so high and so big for me that I wasn’t able to find the motivation, the passion to keep climbing the mountain.”

Lorenzo in his prime

Cool boots

Classic MotoGP line-up