“I think we can still be together. Why not? For sure I have a lot of things to learn from Valentino, and if you are in the same team, it's better for you. On one side it might be worse because there is one rider who is faster on the same bike,” said Lorenzo in an interview with the BBC.
However, the former two-time 250cc champion admitted that he was very close to leaving his current team midway through last season, as the alternative provided by Ducati was more than honoring. Instead, he decided to stay for another season with rival Valentino Rossi at Yamaha, leaving his options opened for the 2011 campaign.
“To be honest, very close, I don't want to lie. The Ducati offer was very attractive - a lot of money, a bike which is very fast. The biggest thing that makes me stay at Yamaha is the confidence Yamaha had in me when I was only a 250cc champion. I feel that I have to stay in Yamaha,” added the Spaniard.
There has been plenty of speculation over the riders' market at the end of the 2010 MotoGP season, when at least 3 major players in the championship – Rossi, Lorenzo and Honda's Casey Stoner – will have ended their deals with their current teams.
While some rumors have suggested that Rossi conditioned his stay at Yamaha with Jorge Lorenzo's departure at the end of 2010, the Italian was also rumored to negotiate a brand new deal with countrymen Ducati. Additionally, Dani Pedrosa was linked with a Ducati move, while Honda seem to have set their eyes on Lorenzo.
One of those enigmas will likely be solved by midway this season, when Rossi promised the media and his fans that he will make a definitive decision on his future team.
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