“The Ducati is magic, fantasy and method.” Jorge Lorenzo is confident, determined, excited and motivated. At Borgo Panigale, he appears to have found the warm welcome he was looking for. “Ducati is a special company and machine like Ferrari. This is the only place where people tell you: Welcome home. Here is different, you share a passion, a dream, a faith. I’m really excited to start this new adventure.”

We met Jorge Lorenzo during his first appearance in red at Ducati headquarters in Bologna, Italy.

You look very confident and happy
“Yes, I’m really happy and excited. At this moment of my career, I needed a change and a new motivation. This new challenge gives me the boost I need to give every day the best of me. I’m a perfectionist and a great worker, and I think it’s a crime when a person doesn’t use all his potential.”

What have you found in Ducati?
“Ducati, is magic, fantasy and method. The people here are very professional, I found perfectionists people like me, a disciplined method, but also all the creativity and enthusiasm typical of the Latin temperament. Ducati is a family. I never felt such a warm welcome from the employee of the company as I was visiting the factory in Bologna.”

The message from Ducati’s top management Claudio Domenicali and Gigi Dall’Igna was clear: the target is the title. Do you feel this pressure?
“I join Ducati to do well and I won’t fail, but it’s a mistake if winning the title becomes an obsession. From my side, I need to focus to improve my weak points, while the engineers have to work on the bike. If we succeed from both sides, the results will come and we can be world champion. Winning the title is the result of the perfect combination of three factors: rider, machine and team.”

What was your first impression of the Desmosedici?
“The smile on my face when I entered the garage after the first exit at Valencia test is the best answer to this question. It’s normal to have doubts, but they all disappeared. I expected a powerful bike and I can say that Ducati has the most powerful engine of the grid, but the bike is also stable.”   

Your strength has always been the corner speed. Will you have to change your riding style to adapt to the Desmosedici?
“Each rider has his own characteristics and he adapts them to the bike he has at disposal. Rossi is a rider who brakes very late, Stoner was the fastest to pick up the bike and open the throttle and I’m probably the strongest in the middle of the corner. But, in addition to the corner speed, I would say that my strengths are also precision and smoothness. It’s difficult for a rider to change completely his riding style. I will maintain my characteristics, but I will work to adapt my style to the machine, and – at the same time – to adapt the bike to my style.”   
 
Will you be the wings that Ducati is missing?
“I will give my best, but I’m not alone in this new challenge. I have the whole company behind, the support of the Ducati fans and I will share the garage with Andrea Dovizioso, my team-mate. Andrea has won races and together we can work to reach the target.”

When can we expect to see you on the first step of the podium? Qatar has always been a favourable track for Ducati…
“Qatar has always been a favourable track for the Italian manufacturer and I have got very good results on this track. Yes, Losail features a long straight, but you also need to turn. It will be a very interesting race. A front row, a podium and even a victory would be fantastic. But it’s too early to make a forecast. We don’t take the start as the favourite, but the first circuits are favourable for us.”

How important it was for you the presence of Gigi Dall’Igna?
“I needed a new motivation at this moment of my career. After many years with the same people, the same machine, the same routine, you lose a bit of thrill. But at the same time, Gigi Dall’Igna proved the competitiveness of this project. Every year the Desmosedici has improved. This has been another crucial factor for my decision of joining Ducati. I have met Gigi for the first time when I was 17. Together we won two world titles in the 250cc class. Now we have both grown up, but we are both professional, perfectionists and we want the same thing: winning.”
   
The target is to win the world title. Is it possible already this year?
“This is the target: mine and Ducati’s, but we don’t have to be obsessed to win from the very beginning or from the first season. If the pressure is too high, this can be dangerous because we won’t be able to work with the necessary calm that this important project requires. We need to work all together to reach this target. I need to improve and also the bike. In Valencia I just wanted to try and understand the bike to give a precise feedback to the engineers, I was not looking for the best lap. We are not interested in this. The first appointment is the Qatar opening round. We need to progress step by step.”  

Will you come often to Bologna?
“Yes, I like to work and to live the atmosphere of the Factory. I don’t live so close to the Ducati Head Quarter, but I will try to come often. Here the employees say: come with us, bring back the world title to Italy. It’s an incredible support and I like to work close to the engineers to improve the machine.”