At the end of 2010, Valentino Rossi made the decision to leave Yamaha and go to Ducati – which, at the time, was far from the titles and dominating force it is today. Yamaha, on the other hand, was fighting for championships.
However, in that year it was Rossi’s teammate who became champion – Jorge Lorenzo. And the rider from Palma de Mallorca has now revealed on Jordi Wild’s YouTube channel that Rossi was moved by jealousy in that decision:
– When he left Yamaha for Ducati, he left out of jealousy, because in 2010 I won my first World Championship, and out of jealousy he told Yamaha, “either Lorenzo or me,” he admitted. And Yamaha said, “we want you to stay, but if you make us choose, you will have to leave”.
In this way, Rossi did choose to venture into Ducati. Lorenzo recalled: ‘He went to Ducati out of pride, had two very bad seasons and that’s when we had the upper hand‘.
According to the three-time MotoGP champion, Rossi’s return in 2013 was marked by concessions from the Italian: ‘After two very bad seasons with a bike he didn’t adapt to, he returned to Yamaha with his tail between his legs, earning much less, publicly accepting that he was the second rider, that Lorenzo was the two-time world champion and that he came to learn from me‘.
