TL;DR
- Maverick Viñales will have Jorge Lorenzo as his full-time performance coach for the 2026 season.
- Lorenzo, a three-time premier class champion, will aim to secure the world championship with Viñales.
- This unprecedented partnership focuses on transmitting a winner's mentality and overcoming Viñales' consistency issues.
- Lorenzo's coaching includes physical preparation, strategic guidance, and technical development, with a focus on mental strength.
The final race, the Valencia GP, concluded successfully, bringing the 2025 season to a close. As riders and teams busily prepare for the upcoming season, Maverick Viñales of Red Bull KTM Tech3 has announced a new partner for the 2026 season. Astonishingly, this partner is none other than Jorge Lorenzo, a three-time world champion in the premier class, a five-time champion across all classes, and a Hall of Famer.
スーパー・コーチは迷える天才を救えるか
This announcement transcends mere team structure adjustments, marking a significant development in Grand Prix history. It's not uncommon for "legends" who have excelled in the premier class to engage in typical honorary roles like test rider or advisor. However, the arrangement of a current rider being accompanied full-time as a "performance coach," striving for victory through gritty effort, is virtually unprecedented.
In the realm of MotoGP, it's no longer uncommon for riders to engage former racers as coaches. Valentino Rossi brought on board Luca Cadalora, a former 125cc and 250cc World Champion, as a "track analyst." More recently, Ducati has seen success by employing former World Champion Manuel Poggiali to support riders like Francesco Bagnaia.
このように、軽量級・中量級を制したマエストロたちが、その経験を現役ライダーに還元するシステムは定着していた。ビニャーレス自身もかつて、元125cc王者のフリアン・シモンを帯同していた時期がある。
However, the selection of Jorge Lorenzo this time carries a significance of a different magnitude. Lorenzo is a renowned rider who directly contended with formidable rivals such as Rossi, Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa, and Marc Márquez in the premier MotoGP class, achieving the championship title three times against them.
While Stoner and Pedrosa occasionally offered advice to active riders, it's highly unusual for someone to hold a clear title like "Performance Coach" and be contracted to support a specific rider throughout the year, as Lorenzo has. This isn't merely about "correcting riding technique"; it might not be an exaggeration to call it the "transmission of imperial studies," imparting a winner's mentality.
ロレンソのコーチングとは？
As stated in their joint declaration, the sole objective of this unprecedented partnership is to "secure the world championship." For Viñales, Lorenzo represents a rival with whom he competed fiercely on the same circuits just a few years ago, someone whose formidable abilities he understands intimately.
一発の速さと天性の才能は誰もが認めるライダーであるビニャーレス。それは、スズキから最高峰クラスにデビューし、2年目に初優勝を挙げ、以降3メーカーで優勝を経験する実績から見ても明らかだ。
However, his career, which saw him move between Suzuki, Yamaha, and Aprilia, was consistently shadowed by periods of both strong performance and decline. While possessing speed, he was also prone to fragility. This lack of consistency has persistently been identified as the primary reason he never secured a championship title.
対するロレンソの現役時代は、彼のブレーキレバーとクラッチレバーに施されていたmartillo（ハンマー）とmantequilla（バター）という言葉を体現する走りを見せていた。
Maintaining a consistent lap time like a hammer and a smooth, fluid ride like butter, their performance completely demoralized rivals. Coupled with their excellent cornering ability, a trait shared with Yamaha, their riding showcased an almost chilling level of stability. While Viñales and Lorenzo might share similarities in being "front-runners who aim to escape," Lorenzo also possessed strength in racing battles.
ロレンソのライバルであったロッシは接近戦にめっぽう強かったため、ロッシの陰に隠れてしまうかもしれないが、接近戦の勝負強さは何度も見せている。
Maverick Viñales demonstrates exceptional speed during qualifying and when he has clear track, ranking among the fastest in MotoGP. However, he often appears to struggle when following other riders. Since Viñales's promotion to MotoGP, Marc Márquez has been the dominant force. Márquez possesses remarkable competitive spirit, making him incredibly difficult to defeat in direct confrontations. Viñales's vulnerability in close racing and his rivals' proficiency in tight battles are significant reasons for his trailing behind.
Lorenzo's leadership framework is built upon three core components: "Physical and Athletic Preparation," "Strategic Coaching," and "Technical Sports Development." Of particular significance are the physical rehabilitation, including a full recovery from the shoulder fracture sustained at the German GP this past July, and, crucially, the strategic coaching focused on the mental aspect. Lorenzo will leverage his own experiences as an "external perspective" to transform Viñales' vulnerability to mental fluctuations into a formidable asset.
Those at the pinnacle of the world possess intense personalities, and Lorenzo was no exception, being a rider with a strong ego, meaning there wasn't zero risk involved. However, Lorenzo has now explicitly stated that as a mentor, he will "stay close to him and guide him to his best condition." True to these words, during the off-season, he has been observed on social media and other platforms dedicating himself to Maverick Viñales' training, with Viñales expressing his complete trust, calling it "an opportunity to learn in every aspect."
Lorenzo himself demonstrated speed immediately after his promotion to the premier class, but he has a history of numerous crashes that led him to reconsider his approach. By ceasing to ride at full throttle constantly and beginning to consider the risks involved, Lorenzo showed strength not just in overwhelming others on a single occasion but throughout the entire season. This approach ultimately resulted in his winning three titles.
とにかく速かったライダーから強いライダーになったロレンソは、ビニャーレスにとって目指すべき存在であり、メンターといえるだろう。
眠れる獅子がついに目覚めるのか。2026年シーズンの見どころがひとつ増えた今季のオフとなった。
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