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HJC Helmets Denies Having Ended the Contract with Jorge Lorenzo

It has been rumored that Jorge Lorenzo will not be seen wearing an HJC helmet in 2016, as the Korean manufacturer allegedly put an early end to the contract with the Mallorcan. The rumors saw HJC ending the contract unilaterally.
Lorenzo wearing a HJC racing helmet 1 photo
Photo: motogp.com
The Canadian website motoplus revealed that HJC decided to end the otherwise quite lucrative contract with the 5-time world champion. HJC Helmets have, however, denied the rumors, posting a message on the company's official Twitter account.

HJC's message states that Jorge Lorenzo remains the "number 1 Ambassador" for the brand and denies all the rumors about an early breakup.

Lorenzo did complain earlier this year about the fact that issues with his helmet forced him to slow the race pace on two occasions, so many would believe that it would be Lorenzo who would make the first move.

An internal plastic component in Lorenzo's helmet above the eyebrow fell, reducing his vision drastically in Qatar. The second helmet incident saw his visor fogging at Silverstone, again impeding his vision during the race, but HJC said that they couldn't be held responsible for the incident, as JL99's crew did not follow all the "rules in the book."


The mentioned Canadian media outlet also reported that HJC Helmets was not exactly happy with Jorge Lorenzo's involvement in the controversy between Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez.

According to these rumors, HJC reportedly started to question the association between their brand name and Lorenzo, whose actions and attitude against Rossi were interpreted as unsportsmanlike. Lorenzo also failed to do the lap of honor wearing the special helmet HJC prepared, the same source indicates as being one of the causes for the (now debunked) hiatus.

In a way, it's good to see that at least helmet manufacturers are steering clear from the whole VR46-MM93 controversy, and this gives us hope that the MotoGP will not have to suffer more after Sepang 2015.
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