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How an unlikely MotoGP union is already flourishing despite a “not nice” past
Maverick Vinales expressed his surprise at the strong relationship he has developed with his MotoGP performance coach, Jorge Lorenzo, despite their contentious past as rivals on the track.
After the conclusion of the 2025 season, Vinales announced that Lorenzo, a three-time MotoGP champion, would be serving as his rider coach while riding for Tech3 KTM.
Their announcement garnered attention due to their history of clashes and verbal exchanges when they competed against each other in the 2010s.
Vinales took over Lorenzo’s seat at Yamaha in 2017, and tensions escalated further when Lorenzo accused Vinales of colluding with Valentino Rossi to hinder him during qualifying in Mugello.
Despite past conflicts, Vinales praised their current partnership, noting that they have been enjoying working together and highlighting Lorenzo’s changed perspective on returning to biking and working with Vinales.
The idea of Lorenzo becoming Vinales’s performance coach was first discussed in 2024, with the partnership fully taking shape following Vinales’s shoulder injury at the German Grand Prix in the same year.
Aprilia did not impede the collaboration between Vinales and Lorenzo, with Vinales emphasizing that it was his family commitments, not his team, that delayed their collaboration initially.
