FEATURE
JORGE LORENZO'S BIG ADVENTURE
P90
riders—I felt I needed this new
challenge to keep my motiva-
tion."
The circumstances leading to
this decision are an elegant coun-
terpoint to the same move made
by Rossi in 2011. Valentino left
Yamaha purely because of Jorge.
The wall down the pit wasn't big
enough any longer, when Jorge
was feted by Yamaha for winning
the 2010 title, the year of the Ital-
ian's only serious injury.
It's just the same now, only
the other way around. The
team's just not big enough for
Jorge, if Rossi's still there.
The relationship between the
two would never be easy after
Valentino returned somewhat
crestfallen in 2013, but it remained
reasonably cordial, according to
Yamaha Racing boss Lin Jarvis,
"until Sepang last year. After that,
the atmosphere changed."
That notorious race, and
infamous incident, when Rossi
deliberately slowed and Marc
Marquez, taken by surprise,
fell off.
From the outset, Lorenzo
made no secret of his disgust,
turning his back on the rostrum.
He condemned Rossi out of
hand even while investigations
were ongoing, and slammed
race direction for not disqualify-
ing him on the spot.
The hostility was now out in the
Stoner has
proven the bike
is faster than
the current
team riders can
make it go.
