Jorge Lorenzo has publicly clarified a statement circulated as his own that placed Valentino Rossi outside the debate over the greatest riders of all time. The disputed wording linked a possible tenth world title for Marc Márquez to becoming the greatest rider of the modern era, while adding that Rossi was not part of that group.

Lorenzo responded on social media that false stories and decontextualised headlines had been wrongly attributed to him. He stressed that Rossi had not been mentioned at all and described the insertion of the rider’s name as manipulation. He also criticised sensational headlines, arguing that this kind of treatment can damage the reputation of the people involved.

What Lorenzo said about Márquez

In the statement attributed to Lorenzo, Márquez was described as extremely strong the previous year, but also as a rider who had needed to manage his physical condition after the injury at Mandalika. Lorenzo said that a tenth world title would, in his view, make Márquez the greatest rider of the new era. He added that such an achievement would open a debate over whether Márquez should be regarded, alongside Giacomo Agostini, as the greatest of all time.

Lorenzo also described Márquez as the greatest ever in terms of technique and riding. His clarification was therefore not an assessment of Rossi’s career; it addressed the addition of a name that, according to Lorenzo, was not present in his statement. That addition shifted the focus from the Márquez–Agostini comparison to Márquez’s place relative to Rossi, prompting Lorenzo to explain the distinction publicly.