Jorge Lorenzo once admitted he had to ‘risk crashing’ to beat Valentino Rossi in intense MotoGP battle

Add as preferred source on Google

Jorge Lorenzo is one of MotoGP’s greatest talents and an all-time motorcycle Grand Prix legend.

Beginning his career in the 125cc class in 2002, the Spaniard moved to modern-day MotoGP in 2008 with Yamaha, where he spent the majority of his career.

Lorenzo won his three premier class titles with the Japanese manufacturer in 2010, 2012 and 2015 and put himself sixth for the all-time motorcycle Grand Prix victories. During his spell at Yamaha, he established a partnership and rivalry with Valentino Rossi.

The pair became teammates in 2013 when Rossi returned to Yamaha from Ducati. Coincidentally, that year also marked the MotoGP debut of Marc Marquez.

Lorenzo was surprised his fellow compatriot beat Dani Pedrosa on debut for Honda in Qatar, while Rossi was immediately worried about Marquez after he finished behind him in third. However, the Italian also had his Yamaha teammate to be concerned about, and he pushed the three-time champion to the limit.

Jorge Lorenzo had to ‘risk crashing’ to beat Valentino Rossi at the 2015 Catalan Grand Prix

By the time they were teammates in 2013, Rossi had already won his seven premier class titles. The 46-year-old pressed on for more championships in the 2010s, but was never able to claim another crown.

He lost to Lorenzo in three of the four seasons together at Yamaha, finishing runner-up to the Spaniard in 2015. Rossi lost the championship by just five points as he produced an intense battle with his teammate throughout the season.

One notable occasion was the Catalan Grand Prix in Barcelona. Lorenzo won the race by just eight tenths of a second as Rossi fought hard for the win in the closing stages.

Speaking via Motorsport after the race, Lorenzo admitted he had to push to his limits to beat his rival, even ‘risk crashing’ to grab what was his fourth win in a row.

“It was one of my hardest races, especially the last 10 laps,” he said. “I was keeping my distance from Valentino, and it was so difficult to repeat the pace of [Saturday] morning with many more problems with grip and the front tyre especially.

“I was keeping this two second gap by risking a lot, I was on the limit, and then suddenly in one lap he recovered six tenths, and I told myself ‘Jorge you have to push even harder, risk more, even risk crashing’.

“I had to do this because if not Valentino was getting more motivated to catch me and he would do it. It was really hard, harder than ever.”

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Valentino Rossi from stats to net worth

Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi both had unsuccessful spells at Ducati after leaving Yamaha

Rossi remained with Yamaha until his retirement in 2021. Lorenzo called time on his MotoGP in 2019 with Honda, but not before he replicated his Yamaha teammate by joining Ducati.

Rossi joined the Bologna-based manufacturer in 2011 and spent two seasons with the factory outfit. In that time, he could not match his success at Yamaha as he failed to win a race and scored just three podiums.

Lorenzo fared slightly better at Ducati, but still could not have the same success as he had at Yamaha. After a winless 2017 campaign that saw him finish seventh in the standings, he grabbed three wins in 2018.

However, his season was hampered by injuries sustained in a crash in Thailand, ruling him out of four of the last five races. Lorenzo finished the year ninth, 64 points behind Rossi in third, back with Yamaha.