One of the all time greats of MotoGP called time on his career last month, claiming he had lost his motivation after a series of crashes.

In an emotional press conference the 32-year-old triple world champion said that he did not have the passion to keep going after breaking his back at Assen during the Dutch TT earlier this season.

“I crashed again in this ugly Assen crash, and you all know the consequences,” he 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 won the first of his MotoGP championships for Yamaha in 2010, claiming two further world titles for the team in 2012 and 2015 as part of a run of eight consecutive top-three finishes.