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Lorenzo Was Close to Leave Yamaha, Marco Melandri and Aprilia Part Ways

Hearing Jorge Lorenzo speaking about his thoughts of leaving Yamaha may be a disturbing experience for some of his fans or for those who hold the house of Iwata as their dearest MotoGP team. Nevertheless, the two-time world champion opens speaks about what went through his mind earlier this year when he was asked to make a call as to his choice for the next season.
Jorge Lorenzo winning at Barcelona, 2015 3 photos
Photo: motogp.com
Jorge LorenzoMarco Melandri
Lorenzo tells that he gave a lot of thought to the perspective of trying to see what can he achieve in the saddle of another bike. Prior to renewing his contract with Yamaha, the allure of the unknown was very strong and put him in doubt.

Even though Lorenzo is wise enough not to mention what were his other choices, we can imagine that he had strong offers from other factory teams. It's hard to speculate where would Lorenzo have gone, and this is a detail only he (and his manager) know, while we'll most likely never find out, at least not until he retires.

The Mallorcan also says that in the end, his desire to keep on racing with his current bike and team was stronger than his curiosity. He even mentions Valentino Rossi, saying that even though it's impossible to make good friends among rivals, his good communication and relationship with the 9-time champion is helping both beat the others.

In the end, Lorenzo adds that he has made his mind and plans to end his career wearing Yamaha's livery. "To finish my career with Yamaha, this is the goal, my perfect dream for the future," Lorenzo tells Sky Sport MotoGP HD, according to insella.

Marco Melandri and Aprilia Racing end collaboration, he won't travel to Sachsenring

We had this coming for some time now: Aprilia Racing and Marco Melandri have finally parted ways. Aprilia issued a polite, but laconic press release that reads: "Aprilia Racing and Marco Melandri have reached an agreement by mutual consent to terminate the contractual obligations between Marco Melandri and Aprilia Racing. Consequently, Marco Melandri will no longer be lined up on the grid with Aprilia Racing starting from the German Grand Prix on 12 July. Aprilia Racing wishes Marco Melandri all the best in his future endeavours."

The 8 races that passed since the debut of the 2015 MotoGP season have been nowhere near what both parties hoped for. Despite his extensive road racing experience, Melandri failed to deliver any credible result for Aprilia, as he was constantly the last rider to cross the finish line.

2015 is a development season for Aprilia as they are working hard to replace the existing bike with a new one that's being tested separately. However, certain technologies that are to be implemented in the 2016 machine are present in the current Aprilia bike and seeing them perform was one of the reasonable expectations.

Even though he's only 17th in the world standing, Melandri's teammate Alvaro Bautista managed to bring Aprilia 11 points, three more than Forward's Bradl and 3 less than the German's teammate Loris Baz. Even more, Bautista is still within striking range of Pramac's Hernandez who has 28 points, 10 rounds before the end of the season.

Marco Melandri is believed to be heading for a return to World Superbike, with Yamaha rumored to be his choice, as Iwata is returning to WSBK with their all-new YZF-R1. Aprilia's test rider and former Paul Bird Motorsport MotoGP rider Michael Laverty is most likely going to take to the helm of Melandri's former bike.
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