Jorge Lorenzo reveals the ‘secret’ he kept from Valentino Rossi during MotoGP title battle

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Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi fought for the 2015 MotoGP title at Yamaha in one of the tensest championship battles in recent memory.

There was ‘total tension’ between Lorenzo and Rossi, although the end of the season was overshadowed by the Italian’s feud with Marc Marquez.

Lorenzo thought Rossi should have had his licence revoked for allegedly kicking out at Marquez during a battle in Malaysia. Rider #46 was made to start at the back of the grid in Valencia, the decisive moment in the title race.

Lorenzo had to do the ‘most perfect’ lap of his life to take pole position ahead of Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa, aware that third place would be insufficient if Rossi was fourth. The Doctor charged through the field but Lorenzo held on to win the race and the championship.

Jorge Lorenzo kept his paddock cryosauna secret from Valentino Rossi

Speaking to MotoIT, Lorenzo said his success that year was partly down to his ‘obsession’. In an effort to aid his recovery, he had a cryosauna installed inside his motorhome.

His assistant would then have to buy the required supply of hydrogen for each race, all while maintaining secrecy. Lorenzo didn’t want Rossi to find out.

Desperately seeking marginal gains, he was perhaps wary that his title rival would follow suit. Lorenzo had won two titles before, but this was arguably his crowning glory.

He said: “I think I was very similar to Cristiano Ronaldo; I invested a lot in my sport. I’ll give you an example to illustrate the level of obsession I had: I bought a motorhome that could be dismantled to my liking, unlike the others that are standard: I could assemble it differently depending on my needs.

“I had a cryosauna installed inside, and I would put myself at -180°C for three minutes after each session to recover. We had to find a place where they could make hydrogen very close to the circuit, in each town. My assistant had to travel up to 100 km to get it. I did this in 2015.

“I wanted to keep it a secret because they always parked Valentino’s motorhome next to me. I told my assistant to position it so it couldn’t be seen. He had to install the hydrogen so no one would see it, not even Valentino’s assistant.

“I didn’t want anyone to know, not even my manager knew, all this just to keep it a secret and have a competitive advantage.

“I brought a doctor, a physiotherapist, everything, everything. I did everything and invested everything to be stronger every day.”

Valentino Rossi paid Jorge Lorenzo the ultimate compliment

Lorenzo believes Marquez is the greatest rider of all time, though he finds it extremely difficult to separate him and Rossi.

However, he also takes pride in being the only rider to beat MotoGP’s ‘Fantastic Five’ – Marquez, Rossi, Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner. Stoner retired just before Marquez made his debut in 2013.

Rossi said Lorenzo was his favourite rider to battle on track. They were involved in arguably the greatest final lap in MotoGP history at the 2009 Catalan GP.