Marco Bezzecchi
Jorge Lorenzo was involved in some bitter rivalries during his successful MotoGP career.
There was ‘total tension’ between Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi when they were teammates at Yamaha. In their first stint together, the team were even forced to put up a wall in the garage.
Earlier in his career, Lorenzo’s relationship with fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa was ‘unbearable’. The competition had been fierce since they were teenagers, and peaked in 2008, when Pedrosa refused to shake his hand in Jerez.
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“There came a point when the tension with Dani Pedrosa was unbearable,” he told DAZN last year, via Mundo Deportivo. “We exchanged statements in the media, and there were front pages filled with pure hatred . At that time, everyone was talking about our rivalry.
Jorge Lorenzo says MotoGP riders have become too friendly
In a separate interview with Moto.IT, Lorenzo rued the change he’s seen in MotoGP. He feels the sport needs intense rivalries.
The sport recently released a documentary reflecting on the 2015 Malaysian GP, the moment Marc Marquez’s feud with Rossi exploded. The sport may be trying to use that storyline to capture new fans.
Marquez and Rossi still aren’t on speaking terms, years after The Doctor retired. By contrast, relations among most active riders are cordial.
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Lorenzo said: “Now the riders are all friends, all likes, all ‘how good you are, you’re number one’. I think the sport needs rivalry because otherwise, everyone’s friends.
“Pedro Acosta is someone I like because he doesn’t come to make friends. Marc too, if you want. But the most extreme is Acosta.”
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Marquez and Marco Bezzecchi used to be sporting enemies, but that has now changed. Bezzecchi was deeply apologetic after an incident with the world champion in Indonesia.
Marquez was injured in the crash but told his fans not to criticise the Aprilia rider, a sign of their mutual respect.
Some suspected that Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia, another VR46 academy graduate, would become rivals, but the gap in performance was too great. Marquez even gave Bagnaia advice on how to regain his form at Ducati.
The intra-team competition should be more intense at Aprilia, where 2024 world champion Jorge Martin is back to full fitness. Marco Bezzecchi made the team his own in Martin’s absence.
Bezzecchi and Martin had some ‘tough times‘ when battling in the lower classes, and that history could make the narrative more compelling.
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