Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi had one of MotoGP’s most intense teammate rivalries during their time together at Yamaha, and the Spaniard has recently opened up about how he felt when The Doctor returned to the team before the 2013 season.
By then, Rossi was already a seven-time world champion, but that didn’t make things any easier for him when it came to dealing with the pressure surrounding his arrival.
Lorenzo’s relationship with Rossi was filled with ‘total tension’ from the very get-go, and the pair shared some of the most explosive moments in MotoGP teammate partnership history across the seven years they spent as counterparts.
Things really came to a head after their bitter 2015 title fight, but it was actually two years earlier that Lorenzo made his biggest move against Rossi. That’s when Rossi wanted to return to Iwata following a tough spell at Ducati.
Jorge Lorenzo says Valentino Rossi’s standing at Yamaha was ‘in the gutter’ in 2013
During his Decoded documentary, which can be found on the Duralavita YouTube channel, Lorenzo spoke about how Rossi’s reputation within Yamaha had hit a low point ahead of his return for the 2013 season.
The three-time MotoGP title-winner said, “Valentino had two bad years at Ducati. And, with his tail between his legs, he decided to knock on Yamaha’s door and offer his services. So, wrongly, I didn’t stop him out of pride because he asked Yamaha, ‘Lorenzo or me?’
“And Yamaha replied, ‘We want both of you, but we’re not going to get rid of Lorenzo.’ I was the king of Yamaha at that point. I’d given them the last two world titles and Valentino Rossi’s value was in the gutter.”
“I could have said, ‘Look, I’ll sign the contract but I want to keep Ben Spies as my teammate.’ I didn’t think of that. But in the first season it’s true that there were three of us dominating: Dani Pedrosa Marquez and me. He (Rossi) was in the background finishing fourth.”
Jorge Lorenzo explains why Marc Marquez, not Valentino Rossi, was his biggest rival
Although Rossi was still competitive near the end of his MotoGP run, Lorenzo insists it was Marc Marquez who posed the bigger challenge.
Lorenzo had just secured his second premier class title in 2012 when Marquez made his debut, quickly making a name for himself at Honda and matching the buzz surrounding him.
Marquez didn’t waste any time, winning back-to-back titles in 2013 and 2014. It only took two seasons for him to join the conversation alongside established stars like Lorenzo.
But Lorenzo had one more title run left in him. He claimed his third championship in 2015, edging out Rossi in a season filled with tension between the two rivals.
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