Unyielding Respect: Jorge Lorenzo Reflects on His ‘Brutal’ 2015 Season and Rivalry with Valentino Rossi

The challenging 2015 season did not diminish Jorge Lorenzo’s admiration for Valentino Rossi. Lorenzo believes that they could have secured more victories if they hadn't been competing against each other.

In 2015, Jorge Lorenzo described his last year winning the MotoGP title as "brutal" because of the controversies involving Valentino Rossi. However, he now holds "the utmost respect" for the legendary racer.

Between 2008 and 2010, and again from 2013 to 2016, Lorenzo and Rossi had a tense and turbulent partnership while racing as teammates for Yamaha.

The tension between them arguably hit its peak in 2015 when Lorenzo clinched the championship, while Rossi accused Marc Marquez of plotting against him to prevent him from securing the world title that year.

Rossi continues to assert this claim even now.

In 2015, Lorenzo clinched his third MotoGP championship during the final race in Valencia. However, his victory faced criticism from Rossi supporters and received a lukewarm reaction from his Yamaha team. Consequently, the Spanish rider decided to join Ducati for the 2017 season.

During last week's Festival dello Sport in Italy, Lorenzo discussed his ultimate world championship victory and his competition with Rossi.

"According to Lorenzo, it was clear that everybody accepted Valentino's account of the events from that season."

"The year 2015 was extremely challenging, with many significant events unfolding. It's important to consider that I had not been the sole leader until the final race."

Following the Czech Grand Prix that year, Lorenzo temporarily took the lead in the championship standings, although he was tied on points with Rossi.

Nine-time world champion Rossi led the standings all the way to the final race in Valencia. However, Lorenzo ended up winning more races than his teammate, with a count of 7 to 4.

"If it weren't for each other, we would have achieved more victories during our time competing," he notes.

"However, due to our competition with each other, our speed increased significantly."

At present, I hold him in the highest regard.

"His charisma has been advantageous for everyone, as it has attracted numerous individuals to the global motorcycling scene and increased the championship's visibility."

Lorenzo's friendship with Biaggi does not impact his connection with Rossi. Throughout his career, Rossi experienced intense rivalries with several prominent riders, with his initial major competition in the premier class being against Max Biaggi.

Growing up, Lorenzo admired Biaggi and eventually became friends with the Italian. However, he doesn't think this friendship affected his relationship with Rossi in any way.

Lorenzo expressed that Max Biaggi was his hero.

"When I met him for the first time, we discussed a variety of topics, one of which was Valentino Rossi."

"I promptly informed him that he was my top choice. I believe that my friendship with Max did not influence how I interacted with Rossi."

“Undoubtedly, the key factor was how quickly he was able to race.”

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