Yamaha moved to sign Jorge Lorenzo in 2006, though his journey with the manufacturer only began in 2008, out of fear of losing Valentino Rossi, who at the time was highly interested in Formula 1. However, the highly competitive Spaniard created ‘a problem’ within the team, leading to the Italian’s departure and later, upon his return, the roles… reversed.
The episode was recalled by Lin Jarvis, who left Yamaha at the end of 2024, in words to MotoGP World: ‘Initially, when Jorge arrived in 2008, he was third in 2009, second in 2010, and became champion in 2010. And that created a problem for Valentino to accept,’ the executive revealed.
Rossi eventually moved to Ducati, marking a less successful phase with a team in MotoGP: ‘So Valentino left to join Ducati at that time. In 2011 and 2012, he went to Ducati, and that was the first major turnaround.’
Il Dottore eventually returned to the Japanese team: ‘Valentino didn’t succeed with Ducati in 2011 and 2012 and came back to us in 2013. Then the roles reversed. We got Valentino back when Jorge was the King. And that was another bold move, and eventually, Jorge decided to leave.’
Interestingly, Rossi never won another MotoGP title, failing to secure his coveted tenth title, while Lorenzo managed to win another title in 2015.