Yamaha boss Lin Jarvis revealed, Jorge Lorenzo was recruited by Yamaha not to support Valentino Rossi.
Lorenzo was promoted to the MotoGP class in 2008. Previously the former Spaniard spent three years in the 250cc class, where he successfully won the world title twice.
The results were beyond expectations. Lorenzo appeared promising with finishing fourth in his debut season, before finishing runner-up behind Rossi, who won his ninth or final world title in 2009.
At that time Rossi was in the midst of rumors of swerving to become an F1 driver, after diving into a series of tests with Ferrari. Jarvis admitted Lorenzo was a square step Yamaha if Rossi left.
“When we recruited him, he was a rider, he had never ridden in MotoGP before, and we recruited him to replace Valentino Rossi,” Jarvis told CNN.
