Defining line in Fiat Yamaha garage

The competition for the MotoGP World Championship title this season between Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo will have an added edge.

On Thursday it was confirmed by Masahiko Nakajima, MotoGP Group Leader and Fiat Yamaha Team Director, that there will be no sharing of data between the two riders this year as they do battle for the crown which the Italian won in 2009.

Commenting on the issue at a press conference in Malaysia to mark the first official MotoGP test of the year, Rossi said that he thought the new method of operating was the correct one.

“Speaking with Yamaha I think Jorge, especially last year and already in 2008, demonstrated great speed and a good attitude to fix and set the bike,” said the 30 year-old. “Now he has been in the team for two years, so everyone agrees that it’s possible for everyone to make their own way.”

Rossi continued: “Also, Jorge wants to work more on the development, so I think it’s right that everyone does his job alone. But at the end it doesn’t change a lot because all the comments between me and Jorge are quite similar, so it’s not a big change.”

When asked for his opinion on the matter, Lorenzo – who finished runner-up to Rossi in last year’s Championship – replied: “I don’t have anything to comment about this.”