MotoGP: Lorenzo open to clear the air with Rossi

The dust has settled on not only one of the most tense seasons in the FIM Motorcycle Grand Prix (MotoGP), but probably among all racing categories this year. Thoughts turn towards 2016 and what the pecking order may be as Michelin replaces Bridgestone as MotoGP's control tyre supplier and standard electronics are introduced to try and reduce costs and level the playing field a bit.

In addition to these factors, is of course the very palpable tension between riders' championship heavyweights Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo of Yamaha and Marc Marquez of Honda. The simmering tensions between the trio turned downright ugly over the final two rounds of the season in Sepang and Valencia.

"This was definitely my toughest championship," said Lorenzo to a group of reporters gathered at the Buddh International Circuit for a promotional event organized by Yamaha India. "I didn't lead the points until the end of the final race so it felt sweeter than the others."

Enough has been written and said about the events of the two races, but the short story is Rossi publicly accusing teammate Lorenzo getting help from fellow Spaniard Marquez in an effort to rile the latter. It was the Italian who got the short end of the stick, however, as Lorenzo won his third MotoGP championship (fifth across all classes) with Rossi still adamant that Marquez could have prevented him from doing so but chose not too.

It seems as if the bad blood between the two has not entirely gone as yet.

"If Valentino wants to talk to me then I am always ready to listen." said Lorenzo when asked by autoX if the two have been on speaking terms since Rossi's Sepang outburst. "He basically thought Marc (Marquez) was helping me win and then people from Italy also started saying this."

The suggestion here seems to be that Rossi's frustration got amplified and echoed by the hype surrounding his title challenge with Lorenzo that had reached a fever pitch rather than any one of the riders going out of their way to harbour animosity towards each other.

The Spaniard seemed at ease to discuss these matters openly with the journalists in attendance including those about the more technical factors that could end up playing a role in deciding the 2016 title.

"The new Michelin rear is amazing," said Lorenzo. "It's got a lot of grip but the front is very different to the Bridgestone. You can't really brake very hard and deep into a corner like before."

The control electronics software provided by MotoGP's commercial rights holder Dorna was also a topic of discussion with Lorenzo feeling that it was a work in progress.

"It seems worse than what we had before but it is the same for everybody," said the Spaniard. "Right now it may not be so good but eventually I think we can develop it to get to the same level as the electronics that we had until this year."