Eddie Lawson: Jorge Lorenzo a worthy champion

MotoGP legend Eddie Lawson reckons Jorge Lorenzo will be a worthy new world champion at the end of the 2010 world championship campaign.

Even Fiat Yamaha rider Lorenzo has admitted fearing that his maiden MotoGP title success will be devalued because of the injury suffered by team-mate Valentino Rossi earlier in the year.

Rossi missed four races when he broke his right leg in a horrific accident during practice for his home race at Mugello.

But four-times world 500cc champion Lawson doesn’t subscribe to the view that the 23-year-old’s success will owe anything to Rossi’s injury absence.

Lorenzo has won six out of nine races so far in 2010 and holds a commanding 72-point lead over closest rival Dani Pedrosa heading into the short summer break.
The double world 250GP champion led the series when Rossi picked up the worst injury of his career having won the Spanish and French races.

Lawson, who won titles for Honda and Yamaha, said: “Lorenzo was every bit as fast, if not faster than Valentino before he got hurt. If he wins it then he wins it fair and square and Valentino’s injury doesn’t devalue it at all.”