An exhilarating 2015 championship season for MotoGP came to its climax over the weekend, with Jorge Lorenzo claiming the title ahead of Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi.
En route to a third premier class title and fifth overall, Spaniard Lorenzo dominated the season finale at Valencia – from pole position to the chequered flag.
In doing so, the 28 year-old chalked up a mighty seventh win of the season. Three more than his defeated rival Rossi, who rode his own emphatic race from the rear of the grid to finish fourth and ultimately 5 points in deficit to the leader.
Having not actually had a points advantage all season over the Italian until now, Lorenzo demonstrated that it’s the numbers at the end of the final race that truly matter.
A shaky start to the season in the fly-away races saw him 29 points down on Rossi after the Argentinian round. At that point he sat fourth in the standings.
But it was when the championship returned to Europe, did Lorenzo get the hammer down.
Claiming a career first, four consecutive wins between Jerez and Barcelona saw the Spaniard catapult himself to within a point of the nine-time world champion.
With the onus on Rossi to respond to his teammate’s metronomic form, the 36 year-old delivered with a nail biting victory in Assen over Honda’s Marc Márquez.
The Doctor’s consistency to finish on the podium at every race up until that point, meant that he prevailed again over Lorenzo in Germany – where the latter only managed a fourth place finish.
By the time the championship arrived at Silverstone in Great Britain, both riders were equal on points. However again under pressure, the wily Rossi overcame the threat of Lorenzo in the rain and extended his points lead.
A round later in San Marino, it was ruminated that perhaps the Spaniard’s chances for a third title were unlikely, after his one and only fall of the season. The gap was now 23 points between the duo, with a maximum of 25 available per race.
Lorenzo then responded with retribution. He outscored Rossi in four of the final five races, including two more victories on home soil, completing the Spanish quartet for the season by adding Aragon and Valencia to his win tally.
Ultimately when reminiscing in the result of this championship, the debate will rage on about whether Rossi’s sanctions for his controversial clash with Márquez in Malaysia was just.
And now the younger Spaniard has been accused of playing ‘bodyguard’ to the eventual victor, having not been more aggressive to strip Lorenzo of the win in Valencia.
Whatever the agitation be, the gladiatorial Lorenzo’s efforts cannot be ignored when one looks back the difficult couple of years he’s had after his previous title win in 2012.
Retaining the crown in 2013 proved difficult, as injury at Assen marred the middle part of his campaign. Succumbing to the pain threshold at the Sachsenring, yielded a colossal 25 points over to the new kid on the block; Márquez, who had taken the MotoGP world by storm in his rookie year.
A valiant bid for title retention ended at the season finale in Valencia, where despite winning the race, Lorenzo lost to the youngest champion in premier class history by a mere 4 points.
Vowing to return stronger in 2014, it appeared that the now triple world champion had been rattled by the next generation. Amazing, considering Lorenzo was only 26 years-old at the time.
Crashing out at Qatar, then the dubious jump start at Austin saw the hardships compartmentalise for Lorenzo. It wasn’t until the fourteenth round in Aragon, that he had achieved his maiden win and that was only one of two overall for 2014.
Márquez remained peerless on his way to retaining his crown and a renewed Rossi, with his new crew chief in Silvano Galbusera, was able to finish second in the standings ahead of his Yamaha stablemate.
So then with a strengthened resolve for 2015 (and an unusually off-form Márquez), Lorenzo returned to the fore. He demonstrated having a clear advantage over his teammate in qualifying, which ultimately led to more race wins.
Whilst Rossi on too many occasions had to scythe his way up from the third row of the grid, having not yet acclimatised correctly to the new qualifying format.
What then can we expect for the next season? The acrimonious end to Rossi’s season will surely ensure that relations with Márquez will remain frosty and potentially see tensions continue to boil out on track between the rivals.
Can Dani Pedrosa remain injury-free and ignite a title fight with Lorenzo akin to 2012?
Mark your calendars then for March 29 2016, for that’s when Lorenzo’s third title defence begins in Qatar.
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