Watch: Jorge Lorenzo’s fears of paralysis led to early retirement

Jorge Lorenzo’s heavy crash in the practice session for the Dutch TT in June 2019, set in motion his early retirement with the Honda rider admitting he feared paralysis after breaking two vertebrae in his back.

That moment for Lorenzo

Putting in the laps during FP1 at the Assen circuit, Lorenzo lost the front end of his Repsol Honda RC213V heading into Turn Seven.

The former MotoGP champ was only going about 130km/h, not the fastest crash he’d ever had.

However, cartwheeling through the gravel, his head, neck and back hit the ground at an odd angle resulting in two fractured vertebrae.

The crash, which came just days after his Barcelona fall, meant he missed four races in total.

Weeks later, he announced that 2019 would be his final season in MotoGP.

“The injuries accelerated my decision to retire,” he told BT Sport. “Without them, I would have stayed to try to be competitive with Honda.

“When we started, I had five serious injuries, and the last time I hit my head I couldn’t remember anything.

“Back injuries are also serious, they are not like a in my hand or on one foot. You can even be paralysed. I felt I had to be more cautious, I didn’t want to fall anymore.”

He added: “There was a series of combinations: the bike did not match my style, there was little motivation and also lack of patience to wait another year at my age, already at 32.”

Became ‘afraid’ of crashing

Although the Spaniard’s Assen’s injuries were serious, Lorenzo revealed he was already “afraid” after his Barcelona crash.

In the midst of a season in which he struggled to adapt to the Honda, he caused a four-bike pile up at his home race.

Two days later, testing at the same circuit, he went down at Turn 8, crashing heavily into the air fence.

“After the fall in Barcelona, we examined the images on the computer and, from that moment, I began to be afraid of falling and hurting myself. Shortly after that Assen happened.

“Then I asked myself what I was doing here, then I thought about giving myself another chance, but the truth is that I could no longer find the reasons to continue.”

Lorenzo has been linked to a return to the MotoGP paddock as a test rider with his former team, Yamaha.