MotoGP: Details begin to emerge of Lorenzo Yamaha return

Details are beginning to emerge in the MotoGP paddock about Jorge Lorenzo’s rumoured return to Yamaha, with talks reportedly going on this weekend to secure a deal between the five-time world champion, Malaysian oil giant Petronas and the Aspar team.

Originally rumoured to be working towards some sort of tie up with the Marc VDS squad, it looks like their ongoing legal issues have put that deal on ice, with Malaysian circuit boss Datuk Razlan Razali instead in talks now with Jorge Martinez Aspar’s squad.

The deal could see Lorenzo join the squad on a factory-backed Yamaha M1 sponsored by Petronas, a company that already has links to Lorenzo thanks to his trial run in their Mercedes F1 car in 2016.

And it’s now looking likely that his teammate at that squad could well be Franco Morbidelli and not Hafizh Syahrin, with Tech 3 boss Herve Poncharal admitting that he was keen to keep the Malaysian rider for 2019 as they switch to KTMs.