Speedy Spaniard turns down Marlboro's big bucks to stick with current MotoGP squad
SO ALL THE speculation in some quarters that Jorge Lorenzo was 'about' to sign for Ducati at Indianapolis this weekend have finally been blown out of the water with the news this morning that Yamaha has kept hold of the Spaniard for another year in MotoGP.
Whilst some seasoned MotoGP watchers were loudly claiming that Lorenzo was about to jump onto the red bikes, he was in fact happily signing on the dotted line for FIAT Yamaha in 2010, for another season as team-mate to Valentino Rossi.
Lorenzo said: "I am very happy! Today is a good day because I have decided to remain with the Yamaha Factory Team in 2010. It was a very important decision and that's why I have had to take the last few weeks to make it, but I think that this is the best decision for me in this moment. I want to thank Yamaha because they have always done everything that they have promised, and I especially would like to say thank you to Lin Jarvis and Masao Furusawa."
Lin Jarvis, Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing, said "We are obviously delighted that Jorge has decided to stay at Yamaha for the next season and we hope that he will remain at Yamaha for many years to come. Jorge has shown his talent, his ability to learn and to compete at the highest level with many excellent performances in 2008 and 2009. We have no doubt that he has the ability and drive to become MotoGP World Champion and we are proud that he has decided to remain with Yamaha, despite having received some very serious approaches from some of our competitors. This timely decision now allows us to focus on the present championship, where our riders are currently first and second, and to make definitive plans for our 2010 MotoGP program."
Given the world exclusive articles on visordown.com about Rossi talking about F1 drives in 2011, what's the betting we'll see Lorenzo stay at Yamaha for a long time to come?
