Jorge Lorenzo is victim of his own success

Jorge Lorenzo’s eye-catching performances in MotoGP have made his job of defeating Valentino Rossi even tougher.

According to Rossi’s Fiat Yamaha team boss Davide Brivio, Lorenzo’s success has only served to further motivate the Italian to stay on top in the MotoGP world championship.

Several people close to Rossi believe the 30-year-old is riding better than at any other stage in his career because of the threat posed by Lorenzo.

The pair resume their enthralling 2009 title scrap in Estoril next weekend with Rossi holding a comfortable 30-point lead over Lorenzo with just four races remaining.

And Brivio told MCN: “Jorge has made his job difficult. By being so strong he has motivated Valentino to improve. That also shows the intelligence of a great champion like Valentino. When Casey (Stoner) arrived at Ducati he did everything he could to study him and work out how he could beat him.

“Unfortunately Casey has some problems so the biggest rival is Jorge and now he’s working on how to beat him. In this situation when Valentino has a strong rival he works more on his physical preparation. He works more in the garage and he studies the races more. His victories aren’t just coincidence. He’s always trying to learn and improve and that’s the reason why he’s still winning after all this time.”