Lorenzo says Ducati move will ease tension with Rossi

Of the nine seasons Lorenzo has competed in MotoGP until now, in seven of them he has had Rossi as his garage neighbour. In his first two years in the top category (2008 and 2009), Rossi, Yamaha's main star, took the titles, the last two he has secured until now.

However, the crown Lorenzo secured in 2010 marked a turning point in the relationship between the two. The atmosphere became markedly more tense, and it got worse and worse until the Italian decided to move to Ducati ahead of the 2011 season.

Rossi's adventure did not work out, and he returned to the Japanese squad two years after having left it. Lorenzo was still there, with one title more than when he had left and with a lot more influence within the team, who saw him as the clear number one .

From that moment, Rossi's competitiveness improved steadily until it reached its peak in 2015, when he battled for the title against his teammate in an explosive final few races that ended up with the Spaniard on top.

'The Doctor' got extremely angry as he considered that the Spaniard had formed an alliance with Marc Marquez to make his life harder, and from then on, the relationship between he and Lorenzo was broken for good.

Scenes like the one seen during the San Marino Grand Prix, where they started a public war of words about a pass from the Italian rider, are the best example of that.

However, Lorenzo will lead Ducati's efforts from January 1, and that, according to the three-time champion himself, should make the tension between them lower now they have gone separate ways.

"To have two roosters in the hen-house, keeping in mind that one of the goals is to do everything possible to beat the rider with the same bike as you, creates tension," Lorenzo told Motorsport.com.

"It's normal, be it with Valentino or with anyone else. When you race for another team the tension is much lower. It was the same when he left for Ducati.

"Back then, our relationship improved a lot competed to the previous two years. It will probably be the same now I've made the switch."