MotoGP France, Jorge Lorenzo: “Rossi felt betrayed by Yamaha in 2010”

Jorge Lorenzo is now an established youtuber, publishing a weekly segment as part of his 99seconds series. The latest edition focuses on Le Mans, the track that will host the next MotoGP round and one that conjures up good memories for the Majorcan, both in the minor classes and the reigning class itself.

Jorge talks about the 2010 edition of the Grand Prix, a race that he won ahead of rival/team-mate Valentino Rossi.

Market movement

At that time, Valentino and Jorge were fighting for the title, while contract negotiations with the Iwata manufacturer were also taking place. "It was normal for market discussions to be taking place and Valentino Rossi had clearly told Yamaha: ‘It’s me or Lorenzo’”, Jorge recounts. “But Iwata bosses responded by saying that they’d be happy to continue on with Rossi if he wanted, but that they wouldn’t be doing so without me. Valentino took it badly, he saw it as a betrayal after everything he’d done, and won, for Yamaha”.

The win and the post-race gag

Lorenzo then talks about that weekend: “Rossi finished ahead of me in qualifying but I was quicker in the race and was able to break away after a little pushing and shoving".

At the end of the race, number 99 celebrated in his own special way: "At turn 4 I’d seen that there was a huge maxi-screen, like a cinema screen, with Yamaha advertising right under it. It was the perfect place for what I had in mind, and I could also publicise the brand I was racing for. I got my assistant Carlos Gil to get a chair and popcorn for the plan I had in mind if I were to win”.

"And so, after I won, I sat in front of the screen as if I were at the cinema. I wasn’t a Jim Carrey or Woody Allen film, but it was the best show I could have seen, a very important win that served as an important push towards the championship title”.

A world championship that, also owing to Rossi’s injury at Mugello a few weeks later, he would go on to secure quite easily.

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Un post condiviso da JORGE LORENZO (@jorgelorenzo99)

Translated by Heather Watson

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