MotoGP: Yamaha denies Lorenzo will go to Ducati

Yamaha says Jorge Lorenzo has already agreed to see out his two-year contract with the team and dismissed rumors he could leave for Ducati in 2016.

Reports in the French media after the last grand prix in Argentina had suggested Lorenzo was opening talks with the rapidly-improving Ducati team, having failed to get a podium so far in 2015 and been overshadowed by team-mate Valentino Rossi.

Yamaha team boss Lin Jarvis said there would definitely be no changes to Yamaha's line-up next year.

"I can assure you and the MotoGP paddock that Jorge will be with Yamaha for 2016," he told the official MotoGP website. "We've talked already and it's already clear. He wants to stay with us, we want to stay with him, and it's done. Jorge will be with us this year and next year."

Jarvis said the problems that had hampered Lorenzo so far in 2015 had all been small or unusual, but that his rapid pace in opening practice at Jerez on Friday showed he could turn things around.

"The first race of the year he could've won, in my opinion, but he had this issue with the helmet," said Jarvis. "Then he got bronchitis, which is really bad luck, then in Argentina maybe he didn't make the right [tire] choice. But every time he's shown he's fast.

"This morning he was like a bullet out of a gun straight away. It shows he's focused and concentrated, and this race is the opportunity to reboot his season and pick up his championship challenge. His strong point is mentally when he has difficult he can dig in and come back.

"We saw it two years ago when he had that injury and came back with an incredibly strong second half of the season. He can win this weekend."

Lorenzo has spent his entire MotoGP career so far with Yamaha, stepping up to the team in 2008 as a double 250cc world champion and adding MotoGP titles in 2010 and '12.

Originally on Autosport.com