Photo: motogp.com
It's official now, Jorge Lorenzo will become a factory Ducati rider at the end of the 2016 MotoGP championship. The news comes shortly after Dorna confirmed that Yamaha MotoGP Team Manager Lin Jarvis would be replacing Valentino Rossi at the pre-race press conference on Thursday, ahead of the Jerez round.
A brief press statement from Yamaha arrived minutes ago and it confirms that Iwata's "partnership with Jorge Lorenzo will be discontinued at the close of the 2016 MotoGP season, when Lorenzo will move on to new racing challenges."
The news comes to put an end to the huge amount of speculations that revolved around this subject after the Sepang incident between Rossi and Marquez, last autumn. After that round, Jorge Lorenzo openly spoke against Rossi, and Yamaha officials did not take too kindly of his position.
Rossi was handed three penalty points and had to start the final race of the season from the last position on the grid, with this punishment generating a fierce dispute between Rossi's supporters and those of Lorenzo.
The matter of Rossi standing an excellent chance of winning the title at Valencia had he not been penalized, as well as the way the FIM and Dorna handled the entire situation, is still debated and will be remembered as one of the most questionable moments in recent road racing history.
Even more, Lorenzo tried to get involved in the appeal Rossi made to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but his request was denied, further damaging the relationship with Yamaha, even though team officials refused to comment on the matter.
This makes 2016 the last of the nine seasons Lorenzo spent with Yamaha, putting (so far) an end to a collaboration that yielded three MotoGP World Championships (2010, 2012, and 2015), with no less than 41 race victories, and 99 podiums in the 141 races.
Lorenzo's replacement at Yamaha is still to be announced, and the team only says it "already reconfirmed Valentino Rossi for 2017-18, and will announce the future Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team riders‘ line-up in due course after securing the services of the second rider."
Likewise, Ducati is hermetic as to who will leave the team. Their press release is equally laconic: "Ducati announces that it has reached an agreement with Jorge Lorenzo thanks to which the Spanish rider will take part in the MotoGP World Championship in 2017 and 2018 aboard the Ducati Desmosedici GP of the Ducati Team."
Stay tuned!
The news comes to put an end to the huge amount of speculations that revolved around this subject after the Sepang incident between Rossi and Marquez, last autumn. After that round, Jorge Lorenzo openly spoke against Rossi, and Yamaha officials did not take too kindly of his position.
Rossi was handed three penalty points and had to start the final race of the season from the last position on the grid, with this punishment generating a fierce dispute between Rossi's supporters and those of Lorenzo.
The matter of Rossi standing an excellent chance of winning the title at Valencia had he not been penalized, as well as the way the FIM and Dorna handled the entire situation, is still debated and will be remembered as one of the most questionable moments in recent road racing history.
Even more, Lorenzo tried to get involved in the appeal Rossi made to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but his request was denied, further damaging the relationship with Yamaha, even though team officials refused to comment on the matter.
This makes 2016 the last of the nine seasons Lorenzo spent with Yamaha, putting (so far) an end to a collaboration that yielded three MotoGP World Championships (2010, 2012, and 2015), with no less than 41 race victories, and 99 podiums in the 141 races.
Lorenzo's replacement at Yamaha is still to be announced, and the team only says it "already reconfirmed Valentino Rossi for 2017-18, and will announce the future Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team riders‘ line-up in due course after securing the services of the second rider."
Likewise, Ducati is hermetic as to who will leave the team. Their press release is equally laconic: "Ducati announces that it has reached an agreement with Jorge Lorenzo thanks to which the Spanish rider will take part in the MotoGP World Championship in 2017 and 2018 aboard the Ducati Desmosedici GP of the Ducati Team."
Stay tuned!
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